Twilight Promises
by degfas
Summary: AU to New Moon. What if Edward came back after Bella's cliff diving accident? What if it looked like they were about to have their HAE but tragedy struck, they are betrayed by someone close to them and separated? What if they meet again but Edward doesn't recognize Bella? Will Edward figure out that the woman he is drawn to is his lost love before Bella gives up on him? BxE
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Twilight or any of the Twilight series. They are the property of Stephenie Meyer and are not my intellectual property. There is no finance gain made from this nor will any be sought.

 **A/N** – In the tradition of Stephenie Meyer, I have borrowed the trope of this story to apply to our Twilight characters. Some of you may recognize it. It was a favorite story of mine and I thought it might be perfect for a Twilight spin.

 **Twilight's Promise**

 **Prologue**

It was overcast as rain landed to form little puddles of mud among the brown grass of the meadow. The gloom of the clearing matched my mood. I was wet and cold but I ignored the discomfort as I frantically dug around the base of the rock structure. _Where was it?_

I viciously tore roots out of the rain softened ground and impatiently threw handfuls of dirt to the side. My hands were riddled with small cuts but I disregarded their sting and kept shoveling the muddy dirt with my bare hands. The rain beat down in a steady downpour, so I had to move twice as fast to keep ahead of the water that pooled back into the shallow hole that I had dug. The cold rain had numbed my hands and they felt uncoordinated, but I didn't stop digging until I felt something hard. My heart rate increased and I shifted the dirt that surrounded the object with jerky movements. It was just a rock! A sob wracked my body. With a scream, I threw the rock to the side in frustration along with the other debris.

I took a deep breath and wiped at the tears that mixed with the rain and blurred my vision. I had to find it. I went back and burrowed into the rain soaked ground again.

"It's not there."

I froze at the sound of his voice. A voice that sent shivers down my spine and ran through my dreams no matter how many times I had tried to exorcise him from my traitorous heart. I slowly turned around and faced my tormentor.

"What you're looking for isn't there," he continued.

I stared into his golden eyes in anguish.

"It wouldn't matter if it were. It doesn't belong to you." He held something up in his hands covered in dirt. My hands clenched into fists in anger at his words. "It belonged to me and to someone else. Someone that I loved. Someone who made me a promise."


	2. Chapter 1 - Promises Made

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Twilight or any of the Twilight series. They are the property of Stephenie Meyer and are not my intellectual property. There is no finance gain made from this nor will any be sought.

 **A/N** **1** – In the tradition of Stephenie Meyer, I have borrowed the trope of this story to apply to our Twilight characters. Some of you may recognize it. It was a favorite story of mine and I thought it might be perfect for a Twilight spin.

 **Chapter 1**

"Bella, you cannot ride that death trap."

"Come on, Edward. It looks fine. Please, let's ride the Matterhorn."

Edward looked skeptically at the fair ride, "There is no way I'm going to let you get on that."

I looked at him with soulful, puppy dog eyes but he wasn't budging.

"You know your over protectiveness is starting to get annoying."

He kissed my forehead and said, "You are the only reason for my existence. Do you really think I'm going to risk that on something being held together by baling wire and duct tape?"

"Is there anything here you deem safe enough to take a chance on?"

Edward eyed the Ferris wheel, shook his head and then turned his nose up at the miniature horses that moved up and down on the Merry-Go-Round. "Nope."

"You are being ridiculous."

"Considering your propensity to attract danger and mayhem, I sincerely doubt it."

While I would have liked to argue with him I couldn't deny that if it could maim or kill me, I would find it. I was a danger magnet. Edward, of course was still upset with what he called my "extreme sports debacle".

It had been almost three months since Alice had arrived at my house distraught that I had committed suicide. She almost killed me herself when she found out that it was just an attempt at cliff diving. I had been miserable after Edward had broken up with me. Months after he and his family had moved from Forks, I discovered that if I did something that could be considered dangerous, like learning how to ride a motorcycle, I would hear Edward's voice. That voice generally admonished me to stop, but it was still his voice. I knew it was a hallucination; my subconscious warning me that I was doing something dangerous. I didn't care. For the first time since Edward had left I was able to remember him clearly.

Once I made the connection between doing something that put my life at risk and hearing Edward's beautiful voice, I knew I had to try it again no matter the risk. Hence, the cliff diving. It had worked. Edward's voice had begged me to stop. I hadn't listened. I jumped but underestimated the waves and the current. I was lucky that Sam had seen me on the cliff. He had dragged me out of the water and saved my life. I had driven home a bit worse for wear after being lectured by Sam. I had pulled into my driveway cold and wet only to find a frantic and then angry Alice on my doorstep.

Luckily, Alice had been able to catch Edward's call in time that night and told him what had really happened after Rosalie had mistakenly told Edward that Alice had seen me fall to my death. Edward had been holed up in Brazil. The call made him realize that running away from me wasn't the solution and he and the rest of the family reunited and moved back to Forks.

Graduation was in a week and I knew I shouldn't have been shocked at how everything always worked out for the Cullens. Somehow transcripts arrived and Alice and Edward would graduate with the rest of their class as if they had never left. They even managed to get college applications completed. I had been accepted into University of Washington but Edward had put in an application to Dartmouth in my name without telling me. Sneaky vampire. When he finally mentioned it, I argued that I didn't see the point since Charlie couldn't afford the tuition and I didn't want four times the student loans for an Ivy League school when I wanted to pursue an English Literature degree. Edward said he would pay for it all but I didn't feel comfortable with that.

We had been working through the issues that had followed Edward back from Brazil. Edward struggled with his need to control everything to keep me safe. I still had trouble believing that Edward would not leave me again, if only 'for my own good'.

No matter how many times he assured me that wouldn't happen, a part of me didn't trust his words. I wanted to believe him but some of the scars were still too fresh. I still heard his words in my dreams. I remembered every word he said when he told me that he and his family were leaving. I remembered the feeling of rejection they engendered. Then he came back and told me that everything he said the day were all lies, but I couldn't just let them go. What he didn't understand was they made sense to me. I believed him when he said he didn't want me anymore. It made sense that he would find other distractions. Deep down, I knew there was nothing special about me that should capture and keep the interest of such an extraordinary being. Of course he could find someone else, someone _better_.

He didn't understand my insecurities and I didn't want to tell him how deep they went in case he realized I was right. Maybe time would help. Today, we walked around the end of year school carnival sponsored by the senior class. Alice pulled Edward's right hand and by extension mine, which was held securely in his left hand.

"Come on let's go by the midway," Alice said excitedly.

Edward reigned her in after having to save me from tripping over my own feet. Alice was like a fairy on crack flitting around the carnival trying to see and ride everything.

"Why is she so excited about a carnival?" I asked amazed at Alice's enthusiasm for the school event.

"The closest guess I have is that it triggers a sensory memory from her past. Whenever a carnival has come near any of the places we have lived, she has dragged the whole family there and wouldn't let anyone leave until she had seen every exhibit, played every game and ridden all the rides."

"Alice, you know all those games are rigged." I warned.

She just laughed her bell like laugh. "Rigged for humans maybe, but there is a giant purple hippo that will almost complete my collection."

"She has won almost every animal you can think of in a stuffed animal zoo from all the carnivals she has dragged us to over the years."

I shook my head at the dichotomy that was Alice. Here was a girl that had a wallet full of credit cards that could buy anything she wanted but she was willing to shell out any amount to the fair barker to win a five dollar stuffed animal.

"I've never seen them in the house?"

Jasper smiled, "No, she takes a picture of the animals and then donates the ones she deems safe for children to either the hospital that Carlisle is working at or to the local women's shelters."

Alice danced up to a bottle toss game. Jasper handed the guy in the vintage Pink Floyd concert tee a ten dollar bill. The pony-tailed guy handed Alice a cup full of rings and then stood back as Alice tossed the first few rings. Each made a clinking sound as they bounced off the top of the glass bottles.

"Maybe you should let your boyfriend toss the last of those rings for you, little lady," the carnival worker's voice dripped condescension. Alice gave him one of her dazzling smiles and then tossed the last three rings on to three bottles in a row. The plastic made a ringing sound as each circle caught the top of the bottle and spiraled around.

The guy behind the counter looked astounded at Alice's luck and reluctantly said, "We have a winner. What prize would you like?"

Alice looked over the menagerie of animals but there was only one real choice, "I'll take the purple hippo."

The carnival worker used a stick to get the purple hippo down from the top row of the booth and handed Alice her prize. Alice hugged the stuff animal to her chest and then grabbed Bella's hand, "That was fun! Let's see if we can find something for you Bella!"

A few booth's down there was a milk toss offering costume jewelry and fake designer purses as the price. Alice looked thoughtful and she and Edward had one of their "silent" conversations. Edward stopped in front of the game.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm doing exactly what Alice recommended. I am going to win you something." A few tosses of the softballs against the milk bottles and Edward was a winner. "What would you like as your prize, my lady?" Edward asked graciously.

Alice gave me a gentle bump with her shoulder, "Get the beaded necklace that is on the pink bunny!"

I shrugged and pointed to the necklace. Edward handed the carnival worker and extra twenty and said something to the pimply kid. The carnival worker pocketed the cash in his ripped Levi's and passed me the bunny with the necklace still around its neck. I admired my new furry friend and his fashion accessory for a few seconds.

"Put it on, Bella. It will look cute with your dress," Alice urged me. Edward took the faux pearl necklace from the stuffed toy and gently draped it around my neck careful not to get it hooked on my hair.

"Beautiful," Edward said with intensity.

I looked down at the fake pearls. The pearls were spaced with a rectangular "diamond" about every three inches of beads. "You like it?"

"Bella, you make everything look beautiful, even a cheap bunch of beads."

I leaned up and kissed Edward's lips softly, "My champion."

Alice smiled at our banter and we resumed our stroll down the midway to find the next source of entertainment.

An hour later, Edward declared it was time to feed the human. Alice and Jasper left Edward and me to find lunch. Jasper hated the smell of the fried food so Alice dragged him on some rides that Edward deemed unsafe for me.

"Who knew you could deep fry Oreos and it would make them taste even better!" I said between bites of the fried goodness.

"Hells, Bells, how's it hangin?" Emmett's voice boomed from our right.

Without missing a beat, I replied, "Fair and square, how's your pair?"

Emmett looked shocked which made me laugh.

"Emmett!" Edward admonished him.

"What? She's your girlfriend."

"Feeding the human, I see," Rosalie drawled.

"Three times a day according to all care instructions."

Rosalie smirked at my sarcastic reply. While we weren't besties, we were generally cordial to each other.

Two sophomores walked by eating ice cream cones. One caught sight of Rosalie in her skin tight designer jeans and form fitting shirt that showed off her abundant assets. She smiled and at the boy on the right and he tripped over a garbage can which created a domino effect. By the time the dust had cleared both boys were on the floor with ice cream all over their faces and clothes.

Rosalie was a stunning girl. She was frozen at the height of her beauty. That kind of reaction frequently happened around Rosalie. Boys and men were mesmerized by her looks. She had once wore a mini skirt around downtown Port Angeles and caused a three car pileup. She tried to look annoyed at the fuss but I could tell she was secretly pleased by the impact she had on males and even some females.

The attention she got never bothered Emmett. He once told me that he knew she loved him and he never worried that she would be tempted to stray. He understood she needed to be worshipped like one of the goddesses of old and he was only one man.

"What's that around your neck?" Rosalie asked.

I touched the beads and smiled proudly, "Edward won it for me."

"How quaint."

Emmett expression indicated that he saw this conversation going downhill so he quickly asked, "Where's Alice and Jasper?"

"They were going to ride the Fire Ball." The fire ball was the premiere ride at the carnival. It was a mechanical arm that hung from two steel beams that formed an A. At the bottom of the arm was a circle of seats that the riders were strapped into. The circle of seats spun around at the same time the mechanical arm swung it from side to side. Edward had taken one look at it and then at my hopeful expression and said, "Absolutely NOT!"

"I think we'll go check it out. See ya, Bells," Emmett said as he and Rosalie walked away.

I took a last sip of my drink and Edward asked, "What do you want to do now?"

"Hmm. Let's see. You have forbidden all the rides. We did the games. The only thing left is the petting zoo."

"No way, one of those little pests could bite you and you could get rabies."

I rolled my eyes at him. "You are being absurd. Come on lets go see the rabid miniature goats."

I fought my way through the little kids in the petting zoo area. Barred from the adult rides, I understood that I was invading their territory and had to be patient. I wanted to get to the Flemish Giant rabbits. I had petted the goats, the ponies and a llama. I wanted a chance to see one of the giant rabbits up close. They were cute, fluffy and the size of large dogs.

Edward was eying them funny. "Looking for a snack?" I quipped.

He gave me a dirty look which made me laugh and we moved on to the next pen.

XXXXX

EPOV

"Admit it, Edward, you had fun," Alice said from the back seat of the Volvo on the way back to Forks. It was still early afternoon but even Alice looked like she had run out of steam.

"Alright, Alice, I'll concede that it was rather a fun day."

"And as I predicted, nothing bad happened."

I looked over at Bella, "How sad is that we gage our days on whether we avoided a major disaster."

No one had a smart ass comment in reply. Jasper parked the car in our drive way and I got out and ran to the other side of the car in a blur to open Bella's door.

"What do you want to do now?" I asked.

Bella looked at the house. "I'd like to spend some alone time if you're interested? Charlie has had me on a short leash since you've been back"

It hadn't take a mind reader to know that Charlie was still angry at me for the way I left Bella. It killed me every time I caught one of Charlie's memories of how gaunt and miserable Bella looked when we were separated. I knew he wasn't thrilled when Bella had forgiven me when I came back.

"I'd really like to go to our meadow," Bella continued.

I smiled in understanding and twenty minutes later, we were seated on a blanket in the middle of our special place. Bella looked around at the wildflowers in a riot of colors in their meadow. It was so beautiful and peaceful in this little slice of heaven we had claimed as our own. Bella had her camera with her. I watched as she took a few pictures of the meadow in bloom. She took the stuffed animal and placed him in the high grass that was littered with wild flowers. The colors were spectacular. She took the necklace off and put it back on the toy rabbit.

"What are you doing?"

"Immortalizing your win."

She crouched down low and admired the plush toy as she lined up her shot. I too the opportunity to admire her delicious bottom. Bella took the picture with the camera her dad had given her for her eighteenth birthday. She had told me that after I left, she found she liked taking pictures and kept the camera handy. Angela had taught her some tips on lighting, exposures, and framing what she was photographing. She was pleasantly surprised to find out that she seemed to have a knack for it.

"You know that you probably won't be able to see the rabbit through all that tall grass and flowers."

She shrugged. "Maybe. But you and I will always know he was there." She took the necklace from the stuffed rabbit and placed them back around her neck before she plopped down in front of me. I pulled her soft body against my chest and she automatically tilted her head. I moved her long chestnut curls to the side and placed kisses along her exposed neck. Her blood and scent called to me but now it was more sexual than hunger after almost losing her.

I played with the beads around her neck which made her say, "Thanks for winning these for me."

"For you, I would do anything."

She twisted around and said, "Really? Anything?"

I recognized that look. "Come on Bella, we've talked about that."

She didn't say anything which made me sigh. "If you want me to change you, you know what I want in return."

She remained quiet. I knew she didn't understand why this was so important to me.

"Marry me."

Her breath hitched as it had the first time I said those words to her the night I came back.

"Edward, I know that you are it for me, but I just have never seen myself as married. Especially at eighteen. It seems medieval."

"It doesn't to me." Even I heard the frustration in my voice.

"I don't understand why this is so important to you. I haven't seen many happy marriages. Look at my parents. My experiences of marriage and love are promises broken and people abandoning me."

I knew that how I had left only added to that sense of abandonment.

"Bella, I swear I could never leave you again."

"You say that now but what if you decided that leaving me again was for my own good?"

"I tried that once before and it nearly killed me."

She was silent for a moment. I had told her what I had planned to do if she had really been dead. She had yelled at me and then had thanked the heavens that Alice had answered the phone.

"Is the paper really that important? Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce."

"Well, I think you will find the Vampire divorce rate is a bit lower than the national average."

She didn't disagree with me so I tried to push my advantage. "I know your parent's marriage didn't work out but look around you in Forks. Many of the kids we go to school with all have parents that are still married and seem happy. Maybe your parents are just the outlier?"

"You know everyone will think you got me pregnant."

"If only that were possible." I muttered under my breath. It was one of the reasons I had left her, so she could have a normal and safe life which included the possibility of kids. She made it very clear the night I came back that I had to let her make her own decisions about her life. I had to let her decide what she wanted and what she was willing to give up.

"Bella, I know that people today think it's crazy to get married so young but it's different for me. When I was human you courted a girl and got married. It was the way you said that you loved each other and wanted to spend the rest of your lives together. Many of my friends that were only a year or two older than I was when I was changed were married and had started their families. So, I don't think of it as being unusual to marry at such a young age. Now that I found you, I guess I want to declare my love and commitment to you in front of our family and friends."

"You're right."

I was stunned into silence for a moment. "I am?"

She smiled. "I love you. Nothing is going to change my feelings for you. So, yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes, I'll marry you."

I was shocked. She said yes.

"Crap!"

Now it was Bella's turn to look shocked at my reaction. "What's wrong? Are you having second thoughts?"

"NO! I don't have a ring with me. Now how are we going to make this official before you change your mind?"

Bella giggled. "I think it can wait."

"No. I'm sure there is a way we can make this official." I looked around the clearing for a moment and then down at her necklace. "I know! Hand fasting!"

"What?"

Yes! That would work. "Carlisle told me that when he was a human and a couple didn't have access to a priest they would get hand fasted. They would join hands and make a formal promise and it would serve as a marriage in the eyes of the community. In come cultures it would last a year and one day and if the couple still wanted to be together they would then formally marry."

I gestured to her necklace. "Here, hand me those beads."

Bella took off the faux pearl necklace and handed it to me. I took Bella's hand in mine and then wrapped the beads around our joined hands.

Then, there in the beautiful natural cathedral of our meadow, we knelt on the blanket and faced each other. I looked Bella in the eyes and said, "Bella, I only existed before we met. You brought color and happiness into my life. I was surrounded by loving couples but never felt a part of that love until you came along. You have brought meaning and purpose into my life. I know I hurt you when I left but I promise I will never let you go again. It was fate that had Carlisle save me so I could find you because our souls are connected and we are meant to be together. I solemnly promise to love you, cherish you and be with you every day of our forever."

Tears ran down her beautiful face at my words. I wanted to brush them away but when I went to release her hand she squeezed it and held on tightly.

"Edward, I don't know how I got lucky enough that someone like you believes that he loves someone as ordinary as me." Why couldn't this wonderful girl see herself clearly? I would have told her that but she continued, "I know that you have questioned whether you have a soul, but I know that you do. I see you. Not just your physical beauty but the beauty that comes from within that can only be the light from your soul. I promise that I will never stop loving you for every day of my life and beyond."

My heart felt like it was going to explode at her words. I was silent for a few moments, overwhelmed by my emotions. Then, I leaned in and kissed her on the lips softly and said reverently, "I love you!"

"I love you too."

I grinned, took the beads from around our hands and then went over to a group of rocks. I started to dig a hole.

Bella came over and looked over my shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to bury the beads."

"Why?"

I dropped the beads into the hole and quickly covered them up with dirt. I then grabbed a few of the nearby rocks and arranged six around the newly turned dirt.

"To commemorate this moment," I said as I put a seventh smaller rock over the mound of dirt. I brushed the dirt off of my hands and continued. "These rocks will mark the place where we buried the beads. Only you and I will know they are here and what they represent. Each time we come back to this meadow either next week or in a millennium, we will know that they are here and we will remember the promises we made to each other."

Bella looked moved by my words. She stood up on her tip toes and she kissed my lips. Then she buried her head in my chest and we savored this perfect moment of happiness.

XXXX

The trees thinned out as Bella and I made our way back to the house. She put her warm hand on my arm and tugged.

"Edward, wait."

I looked at her questioningly.

"Could we keep this just our secret?"

Was she having second thoughts?

"You do realize that Alice probably already knows?"

"Yes, but if you ask her, she won't mention it to the rest of the family."

"Why?"

"I want to wait until after graduation before we tell everyone. Charlie will have a heart attack if I tell him that I'm engaged before I graduate from high school."

I didn't think he was going to take it any better after graduation, but I didn't want to upset her. I was disappointed, but I agreed. If it were up to me, I would take out a full page color add in the Forks newspaper announcing our engagement but I had to respect her wishes. I had the commitment I had wanted so I would let her set the pace. Besides, it was only right that I ask Charlie's permission for Bella's hand in marriage.

"We've got time. We can announce the engagement after graduation and maybe plan something before we leave for college."

Bella seemed satisfied. We walked across the green expanse that led to the house. Alice met us halfway. She gave me a knowing look and then hugged Bella as she whispered, "Don't worry. I won't say anything. I'm really happy for you both."

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

"They all went out hunting. You have the house to yourself. I just wanted to congratulate you before I joined them."

Bella gave her a grateful look. "Did you see that coming when you told him to play the game?"

Alice shrugged. "I saw that something special would happen if he did but not the particulars."

"Thank you," Bella said.

"No, thank you for making my brother so happy."

I pulled Bella away from my interfering but well-meaning sister. "Enough. You're cutting into my time with the human." I grabbed Bella's hand and led her into the house and upstairs to my room. I tipped her into the chaise lounge that I had the forethought to ask Esme to buy for me when we moved back into the house. I hadn't wanted to tempt myself too much with a bed.

I cuddled the love of my life into my chest. She giggled and then said in an exaggerated southern drawl, "I hope you don't think that just because we have an understanding, you can get me alone and take liberties with my person!"

I had to laugh. "Bella, I think we both know who out of the two of us is more likely to attempt liberties. I have had to guard my virtue since I met you, Miss Swan."

She blushed but she didn't disagree. Then she twirled an imaginary handle bar mustache and said in her best villain voice, "I hope you know I expect you to give me what I want now that I have given you what you want."

"Speaking of that, I would like you to wear something. It was my mother's."

I went into a beautiful man's jewelry box. "I planned to ask you to marry me with my mother's ring. It's at the jewelers being reset. Since we don't want anyone to know yet, will you wear this on your bracelet?"

I had given her a charm bracelet for her eighteenth birthday. It was one of the items that Bella couldn't find when I left. When I had shown her where I had hidden everything in her room she had cried. I tried to explain that I had wanted things I had given her with love to be close to her while I couldn't be.

I took her hand and looked at the bracelet that she hadn't removed since I had put it back on wrist a few months ago. I took the bracelet from her arm and attached something to it. She raised her arm and saw that it was a heart.

"What a pretty crystal heart."

I didn't tell her it was a real diamond. I just smiled ruefully and said, "Not as pretty as you. When you look at this I want you to remember that you hold my heart. I can't wait until you wear the ring so the world knows it as well."

I took her in my arms and kissed her trying to transmit all the love and happiness I felt in that moment. Bella's cell phone interrupted our passionate moment. I looked at the screen.

"Damn, your Dad must have a sixth sense of when I'm trying to have my way with you."

Bella laughed and swiped the screen.

"Hey, Dad. What's going on?"

"Bella, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Dad. What do you need?"

"Can you come to the station? I need your help with something."

"Sure, I can be there in about fifteen minutes." She hung up the phone and turned to Edward. "I hate to leave you but can you drop me off at the station?"

"Of course."

XXXXX

BPOV

"Do you want me to wait for you?"

"No, my Dad's shift is almost over. I'll catch a ride home with him. Will I see you later?"

"Definitely. Leave your window unlocked and I'll be there to tuck you in."

I loved the fact that Edward had resumed his late night visits to my room. He stayed over most nights. It made me feel safe. It also helped when I woke up from a nightmare. They were less frequent now but they still happened.

I didn't want to leave him. I gave him one last kiss and reluctantly let him go.

"I can't wait until we can tell everyone about us."

"Me too."

I fumbled with my seatbelt. Edward was out of the car and had my door opened before I even unclipped my seatbelt. He took my hand and helped me out of the car. I gave him a hug and ran up the stairs to the station front door. I turned back to him and gave him one last waive and went into the building. I didn't see the smile of satisfaction as he gave as he saw the diamond heart catch the rays of the waning light.

"Hi, Bella! Looking forward to graduation?" The station receptionist asked.

"Absolutely!"

"Heard you got into UW. Congrats."

"Thank you, Linda."

"The sheriff's in his office if you want to go back."

I waived a thanks and walked to the back hallway that led to the offices. Charlie was at his desk working on his computer.

"Hi, Dad."

Charlie got up from his chair and kissed me on the side of my head as he gave me a side hug.

"Hi, Sweetheart. Thanks for coming down."

"No problem. What do you need me to do?" I expected him to say he needed help with something on his computer. Charlie struggled with some computer programs. While I was no expert on a PC; in the land of the blind the one eyed man was king.

"I need you to translate for me. One of the Johnson Mill workers witnessed an assault. He doesn't speak a lot of English and my Spanish is non-existent. Deputy Soto is out sick today. Mr. Rodriguez can't come back tomorrow so could you do me a favor and translate for me."

"Of course."

I followed my father into one of the conference rooms. Charlie introduced me to Mr. Rodriguez, a well-dressed man of medium height in his late forties. I explained to Mr. Rodriguez in Spanish that I was here to help. He smiled his appreciation and Charlie asked the first question to complete Mr. Rodriguez' witness statement. I translated between Spanish and English until Charlie said he had everything he needed.

Charlie shook his hand and said, "Thank you for taking the time to talk to us, Mr. Rodriguez."

Mr. Rodriguez told him he was welcome and would be happy to help if he needed anything further. Charlie left the room and Mr. Rodriguez turned to me and said, "Your Spanish is very good. Did you learn it from your Mother?"

I laughed and replied to him in Spanish. "Not at all. I lived in Arizona as a child and the woman that watched me while my mother worked spoke to me in Spanish. I seem to have an ear for languages and I picked it up quickly."

"Well, your accent is very good. If I didn't know you weren't a native speaker I would have thought Spanish was your first language."

"Thank you. I appreciate that. It's a beautiful language."

"I also imagine that with your coloring, you were often mistaken for Spanish in Arizona."

"Really? Wouldn't I be too pale?"

"Not for someone who's family originally came from Spain. In fact, you sound like you have a Castilian accent which would be from northern Spain."

Mr. Rodriguez said his goodbyes and I walked back to Charlie's office.

"Thanks for doing that Bells."

"No problem. It keeps me from getting rusty."

"Do you want to get out of here and get a bite to eat?"

"Sure."

XXXX

EPOV

Later that night I held Bella in her bed as she half covered my body with her chin resting on her arms. I hoped she wasn't too cold. She insisted that I take my shirt off. I loved the skin to skin contact too so I gave in.

I stared up into her beautiful brown eyes and said, "How did it go with your Dad?"

"Fine. We went to the diner for dinner and then home so he could catch the Mariners game."

Bella looked over to the corner of her room. She must have caught the flash of pink. I had placed the stuffed bunny from the carnival on her desk when I came in through the window.

"You remembered Mr. Rabbit! Thanks for bringing him with you."

"Mr. Rabbit? Not exactly imaginative."

"That's what he looks like," she said and gave me a quick kiss in thanks.

"Like the teddy bear I got you looked like Mr. Bear?"

"Yes, now stop making fun of my naming skills or I'll name something on your body and you'll be stuck with it forever!"

"Forever?"

"That's all I'm asking."

I put my arms around her torso and gently squeezed her tighter to my body. I couldn't get close enough to her. She made me so happy. We quietly laid there content to just hold each other until Bella raised herself up again and whispered, "I loved what you said at the meadow. Did you mean it? You really won't leave me again?"

I hated that she still worried about that but I knew it would take time for her to trust me again. I tried to reassure her. "Bella, I will never leave you again. I fact, I promise that if _you_ left _me_ , I would spend every day of my eternity trying to find you and get you back."

"That could never happen. I could never leave you. I love you too much."

I hoped that was true but I knew that being around my kind put her in danger. I worried that one day she would change her mind and crave 'normal'. She was oblivious to my concerns. My words must have made her feel better because she had shifted her focus and was intent on kissing me again. She worked her way down my neck with delicate licks and I couldn't stop a grumbling noise from escaping me that might have sounded like a purr.

"Oh, Mrs. Cullen…."

Bella popped up to look at me again. "Mrs. Cullen….I like that. Does that mean that we finally get to do what married couples do?" She asked raising her eyebrows up and down.

"Absolutely," I said with a grin. Bella's face brightened in anticipation. "As soon as I get you to walk down the aisle and say your vows before God and our families."

Bella's face fell. "You are practically gothic."

"Well, maybe Edwardian."

Bella rolled her eyes at my pun. She flopped back down on my chest. "I guess that means more PG-13?"

"Well… I feel like our hand fasting entitles us to a few more privileges."

My hand went under her tank top and she shivered this time from anticipation instead of cold.

A/N - Please review and tell me what you think.


	3. Chapter 2 - A Night at the Opera

**Chapter 2 – A Night at the Opera**

 **BPOV**

The last week of school felt like it crawled by. I was sure it was worse for Edward and his siblings because they had been through it so many times before. I followed Edward back to his house after school looking for some alone time, but boys will be boys. Instead, I watched Emmett, Jasper and Edward as they played video game. Alice and I cheered them on in between Alice covertly sticking bridal magazines in front of my face.

"We should go to Port Angeles, so we can check out the shops," Alice said meaningfully as she pointed to a wedding dress. Subtlety was never in her vocabulary. She kept her word and hadn't mentioned the engagement to anyone, but I knew she was like a time bomb of excitement ready to explode.

I decided it might be fun to torment her. I casually replied, "I can't. I have a meeting with Mr. Meade after school." I knew it killed Alice to delay planning the wedding. Luckily, Jasper chimed in to the conversation.

"I can't stand these final days of senior year," Jasper said as he stabbed the controller so fast I couldn't see it but I heard the rhythmic bang on the plastic from the rapid movement. "Everyone has senioritis. Grades have already been tallied, college acceptance letters have been out for months, so none of it matters. It's such a waste of time. You wouldn't believe the overwhelming boredom and impatience to get out of school that I get from everyone."

"Well, we have to keep up the charade. Doesn't look good when the kids of the town's preeminent doctor blow off the last days of school."

"Why do you keep going back to high school?" It was something I had always wanted to ask them.

Edward looked surprised at the question. "I thought we discussed this. We like to start over in high school so we can stay in an area longer."

"Yeah, but with home schooling and everything, is that even an issue anymore? Throw in the strides they have made in plastic surgery and you guys can probably stay in an area a lot longer than you have in the past."

"She's probably right," Emmett mused.

"Imagine not having to sit through freshman year ever again. Haven't you ever wanted to do more with your time?"

"Like what?"

"Well, you have unlimited time, resources and intelligence. Don't even get me started on physical abilities. Why don't you do more with them?" It never made sense to me. Why wouldn't they do more with their time and their talents?

They sat still as statues as the game music beeped in the background.

"I'm not criticizing you," I tried to assure them. Maybe this discussion wasn't such a good idea but I couldn't stop myself as I continued. "It just seems like such a waste of your time to go to high school over and over again."

"Ok smarty pants, what would you do if you were changed tomorrow?"

"I don't know. Assuming I was like all of you and over my desire to slaughter the town, I would go to college."

They all laughed as that seemed to contradict my argument.

"Wait! Wait! I would go to college because _I'm_ not sure what I want to do. But you've all been to college more than once. Edward, you have multiple medical degrees. Right?"

"Yes, Rosalie does too but she was the only one of the two of us to actually practice. I just did it to help Carlisle keep current and create a new license that he could transition over to when he aged out in one of our moves."

I nodded and then pointed to my right. "Alice has a few finance degrees. Jasper has a PhD in Psychology and both he and Emmett have graduate degrees in Computer Science. Yet the biggest thing you do with them is hack the code to video games to amp them up so they are a challenge to your vampire abilities."

The guys looked a bit embarrassed.

"I don't understand why you don't put all your knowledge and education to good use. I mean, even if you didn't want to practice medicine like Carlisle, Edward, haven't you ever wanted to do medical research? With your knowledge of medicine, perfect recall and ability to take in new information you could cure diseases or develop vaccines that could save millions."

"Rosalie loves kids. Why doesn't she work with them? She could start a foundation that helps children. She could make a difference in a child's life. Alice, I already know that you can do anything. You could be setting the next great fashion trend in between trading stocks and bonds."

"Bella, the problem with that is that kind of success and those types of breakthroughs bring notoriety. It all leaves a digital footprint. We couldn't risk catching someone's attention. We can't be photographed in newspapers or technical journals. We can't be on social media."

I hated when Edward used that condescending tone. I took the gloves off.

"Well with Emmett and Jasper's skills on the computer, the first thing they could focus on doing is developing a software program that looks for and erases your digital footprint on government websites, social media and the internet. Hell, you don't have to do any of it in your name or be the face that gets credit. You could be the ones behind the scenes that feed the information to others that can. With your resources what is to stop you from owning the companies that make the breakthroughs. Hide behind shell companies, hire good people and let them take the credit. I'm just saying that with all your gifts and resources, I would think your time would be better spent making the world a better place."

The group stared at me in silence. I took that as my cue to leave. I popped off the couch and said cheerfully, "Oh, look at the time. I have to go home and cook dinner for Charlie." I kissed Edward and ran out of the house to my truck.

XXXX

 **EPOV**

The silence could have been cut with a knife.

"Dude, I think we just got schooled."

"Yes. Bella just handed us our asses on a platter."

Jasper looked down at the game controller in his hand and then at Emmett. "She's right. We could develop a program that searches for our pictures and any hits on the names we are using or have used."

Emmett looked excited. "Yes. We could develop an algorithm that could search the internet and online databases…." Emmett rattled of some computer technical terms and I tuned him out.

Alice popped up from her chair and grabbed my arm and said with a laugh, "Come on. Let's hunt, and let these two guys work on their new venture."

XXXXX

 **RPOV**

I grabbed the packages out of the trunk and made my way into the house. I used the shopping trip as an excuse for a trip to Seattle. I found Emmett and Jasper in front of six big screen televisions that were stacked in two rows of threes. To my surprise there wasn't a video game in sight. They were actually using the screens as computer monitors and I could see computer codes on the screens.

We were all proficient in hacking and coding so I could tell this wasn't game code. I walked behind the couch and gave Emmett a quick kiss on the neck. That was usually all it took to get his attention. This time, nothing.

"What are you guys doing?"

They didn't even turn around as they answered. "Ah, Bella gave us an idea and we are working on it?"

I made an effort to keep my emotions even. No need to arouse Jasper's suspicions. "What could Bella have said to inspire you two over grown boys into abandoning your video games?"

Emmett finally looked at her and gave her a brief replay of Bella asking about why they kept repeating high school and why they didn't do more with their time and resources.

"So, now you are taking life coaching advice from a human?" I couldn't keep the irritation out of my voice.

"Come on, hon. It's not like that. She really had a point."

I ignored him and went upstairs to our room. I threw the bags into the closet. I would use the return of the items as another excuse to go back to Seattle. I was reading a book when Emmett came upstairs.

"How was Seattle?"

"Fine. I met with our attorney and he said the papers should be ready in the next few weeks." That was m second excuse for going to Seattle.

"Sounds good." He stretched his arms over his head and I caught a peak of eight pack abs. Emmett saw my less than subtle look and smiled. He walked over to the bed and sat down beside me. "I think I may be going cross eyed. I know we're not supposed to feel tired but staring at the monitors for that many hours makes me question that."

I almost said, _serves you right_.

"What is your problem with Bella, Rose?" Emmett asked truly puzzled.

I put my book down and looked at my husband. Bella Swan had been a thorn in my side since Edward became fascinated with her. I couldn't see the attraction. She was average. She had average looks, average intelligence and an average personality. The only noteworthy thing about her was her ability to trip over her own feet.

"I don't have a problem with her." I didn't. I just wanted her out of our lives.

Emmett raised an eyebrow and looked skeptical.

I sighed and closed the book with a snap. "Really. I'm just worried. Edward's infatuation with her puts us all at risk with the Volturi."

"Come on, Rosalie. How would the Volturi find out that she knows our secret?"

"I don't know! How do they find out about anything? But they do." I tossed the book to the side in annoyance at him and the families' obdurance. Why was the rest of the family blind to the danger that she posed?

"Now we also have to worry about that nomad vampire, Victoria. You know she's out there somewhere waiting for her opportunity to strike at us because we killed her mate, James."

"Babe, that wasn't Bella's fault."

"You're right. It's ours. We shouldn't have had a human out with us that day when we played baseball. If we had just kept her out of our world we wouldn't have had a problem with James and Victoria."

"That's not true. There would have been a problem even if Bella hadn't been in the field with us. Those two were feral. They were responsible for killing those hikers and the local factory worker. Their hunting was bringing too much attention. You know that James wasn't going to comply with our polite request to leave the area. He was the type that would have ambushed us one by one to try to destroy us. It was all a game to him. Then we found out that he was the Vampire that stalked Alice and killed her sire. We would have never found that out if not for Bella."

"We also had to uproot our lives because of her twice. Edward insisted that we leave after her birthday and then made us all move back six months later. I liked San Francisco. I wanted to stay. Instead I'm in this backwater town again. And then we have to deal with Jasper's mood swings because he is on pins and needles around the girl in constant fear that he is going to attack her again."

"If Edward marries her, none of that will be a problem. He'll have to change her." Thankfully, he hadn't gone that far. "Until then, who is she going to tell? She's a good kid. I trust her."

"You trust everyone." I muttered. I loved him but sometimes he was like a giant child. He was so easy going he couldn't see the big picture.

"She's makes Edward happy. Doesn't he deserve to have what we have?"

"I don't begrudge him some happiness, but couldn't he find it with Tanya? At least she is more of his equal."

"Are you sure that's all it is?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Carlisle had hoped that you would be Edward's mate. I know he showed no interest in that happening and you said you never felt attracted to him."

"What is your point?"

"I know that you like to be wanted. Are you jealous that Bella was finally able to spark something in Edward that you couldn't?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I never thought of Edward that way and couldn't care less that some insipid teenager finally thawed out his libido."

"Ok, then can you cut her some slack? She is trying. Can't you meet her half way?"

"Sure. Whatever."

I wasn't worried. Tanya had taught me how to block Edward from my thoughts decades ago. She had stumbled on to a way to compartmentalize those things she wanted to hide from the mind reader and taught me to imagine building a brick wall around those thoughts I wanted to keep private and locking them away with a metal door. It took her time to perfect the ability but once I had it had come in handy over the years. Every once in a while, I would let him read stray thoughts so he wouldn't get suspicious. Alice had been harder to get around. I learned to make decisions at the last moment in an effort to keep my secrets.

XXXX

 **BPOV**

"You are going to look beautiful in this."

I stood self-consciously in front of her in a bra and panty set that Alice had insisted I wear. I doubted her statement as I watched her take a red dress out of a garment bag.

Alice and Jasper had gifted Edward and I tickets to a show in Port Angeles as a graduation present. The rest of the family decided to accompany us and Alice was excited because it gave her an opportunity to dress me. One thing I had learned about my supernatural best friend was an excited Alice was a dangerous Alice.

I raised a doubtful eyebrow at the cut of the dress and let her help me put on the dress. She smoothed down the lighter than air material and turned me to face the full-length mirror in the corner of my room. I saw that the dress was deceptively demur from the front. However, the side split showed an obscene amount of leg when I walked towards the mirror.

"Alice, I can't wear this. What happens when I sit down?"

"Sit over on the chair. You'll see that all the important bits are covered."

I took a seat on the desk chair and noted that Alice was correct. I stood up again and walked back to the mirror. I had to admit, the dress made me feel sexy. I wondered what Edward would think. Alice came up beside her with a big smile on her face.

"You had quite a growth spurt when we were gone." I towered over the pixie. "You must be over 5'7 now. It makes you look like you are all legs in that dress. Edward is going to lose it when he sees you."

I hoped she was right as she helped me put on the red bejeweled shoes. I had never heard of the designer, Rene Caovilla, but I had to admit the shoes looked like something out of a fairytale. Alice popped up and handed me a matching handbag and pashmina. She took one last look at me from head to toe and pronounced, "Perfect!"

I was glad she was satisfied. I pushed my nervousness aside and concentrated on getting down the stairs without tripping on my new shoes. Edward waited at the bottom of the steps and I almost stumbled at the intensity of his stare. Charlie stood to his side and watched Edward's reaction none too happily.

I made it to the bottom step without mishap and looked down at the dress. I picked at the skirt in embarrassment. "Alice picked out the dress."

Edward hadn't blinked since he caught sight of me descending the stairs. "You're perfect," he breathed out.

Charlie rolled his eyes. His expression then changed to one of pride and he said, "You look beautiful, Bells."

I felt my cheeks heat up at the attention. "Thanks, Dad."

Alice giggled as she danced down the stairs. "We better go or we'll be late for the start of the show." She kissed Charlie's cheek. "Are you sure you don't want to come, Charlie? We have a ticket for you."

"Thanks, Alice. Musicals aren't really my thing. You guys have a good time."

Charlie looked at Edward and even without his ability to read minds, I could tell what Charlie was thinking. His expression said that Edward shouldn't have too 'good' a time with his little girl.

Edward gave him a smirk that indicated that his message was received. "We'll have Bella back a little after midnight. Good night, Charlie."

Outside, Edward paused to wrap the pashmina around my shoulders. He kissed the side of my neck as he nuzzled my neck. "You look beautiful."

"What? This old thing?"

The side of his mouth quirked into a half smile. He placed my hand in the crook of his arm and walked me to his car. A while later we were in Port Angeles and we made our way to the first-row center seats in the Performing Arts Theater. The orchestra was tuning up as we sat down. My skirt fell to the side of my leg as I shifted and got comfortable in my seat. I heard Edward's intake of breath and then saw that his eyes were glued to the expanse of leg that was displayed. The intensity of his look made me feel sexy and powerful. Maybe I should trust Alice more often.

XXXX

 **EPOV**

She was killing me. I pulled my eyes away from Bella's eyes when Jaspers voice groaned in my head. _'Edward, if you don't calm down I'm going to have a problem.'_ I shrugged and subtly pointed to Bella's exposed leg. Surely, he could understand. Jasper continued in my head. ' _I promise, my problem will be all of your problems if you don't dial it down and we will all miss the show.'_

I forced myself to think of something else to get my hormones under control. I looked at the bewigged lady that sat on my other side. She smiled at me and I saw red lipstick on her teeth. Her oversized bosom preened in my direction and that did the trick. My libido died a sad death.

Luckily, at that point the lights flickered in the theater and then lowered. The first strains of the musical intro flowed out of the orchestra pit. Bella leaned forward in her seat as the curtains opened and she stayed like that for the whole the first act. She was mesmerized by the action on the stage and I sat mesmerized by Bella. I watched as she smiled, gasped and then cried through the various acts. I found that watching her reactions was like seeing everything new again. It made me remember the wonder of my first show as a young man in the 1930's. A moment that let me escape my new existence and let me feel like a human once again.

When the play was over, Bella wiped some tears from her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"It was just so sad. He loved her so much, but they couldn't be together."

That was my girl. Always rooting for the monster.

I place her pashmina around her shoulders again to block the cold air breeze that came off the water. We walked with the rest of the theater goers to the parking garage. Bella and I had ridden to the show with Carlisle and Esme.

"What did you think about the show, Bella?"

"I loved it, Carlisle. I saw the movie version, but I liked the live show better. It seemed more intimate. More personal."

"The cast was pretty good."

"Oh? Have you seen it before?"

"Yes, many years ago when it first came out in London. I was curious how they were going to adapt it into a musical."

"Wow. You must have seen it with the original stars. I love Sarah Brightman. She has an incredible voice."

"Yes, she and Michael Crawford will always be the voices I associate with this show."

"Did you ever read the book?"

Carlisle answered. "No, I read the serialized version that was printed in the newspaper."

"It started out in a newspaper?"

"Yes. It was first published in the French newspaper 'Le Gaulois' in 1909. But the story is much older than that."

"Really?"

"Gaston Leroux wrote it based on a story he had heard on his travels. Leroux was born in Paris in the 1800s. He had inherited a significant amount of money as a young man which he used to travel through Europe and live the high life. He blew through his entire inheritance quickly and needed a way to support himself. So, he became a writer for some papers. He was intrigued by a legend he had heard when he traveled in Italy and the premise of that legend loosely became The Phantom of the Opera. What no one knows is that legend is actually based on a true story connected to the Volturi."

"Get out! Are you saying that The Phantom of the Opera is a vampire?"

"He _was_ a vampire."

"Seriously?"

Carlisle nodded. "Aro told me he was an Italian Renaissance composer by the name of Don Andreas Ambrosio. Ambrosio was invited to Naples to study under a Duke in Naples called Carlo Ruggerio. Ruggerio was known as a gifted composer but his music was too avant garde for the main stream. Aro and Caius took an interest in Ruggerio's music and stumbled across Ambrosio who was collaborating with Ruggerio. Ambrosio quickly became a favorite of the Volturi. The Volturi have always been great patrons of the arts. With Ambrosio's musical talent and good looks he became the darling of Naples society, something that Ruggerio had never accomplished. Aro told me that Ambrosio was one of the most handsome men he had ever seen."

"For a vampire to say that about a human, that is saying something."

"Yes. It was a sore spot for his mentor. Ruggerio's looks were like his music; sharp, jarring and disharmonic. Unfortunately, Ruggerio had a young and beautiful wife that felt the same way about his appearance."

"Let me guess. She was attracted to Ambrosio."

"Yes. It wasn't long before she and Ambrosio started an affair. At first, they were careful and hid it, but servants notice things and they talk. Eventually, Ruggerio heard whispers of it. One night, he told his wife that he was going out of town, but he circled back to his home. He caught them in flagrante delicto."

"Did he kill them?"

"Worse. Ruggerio was so angry at their betrayal, he stabbed his wife and mutilated Ambrosio. He was jealous of Ambrosio's talent and good looks. In a rage, he peeled part of Ambrosio face off and fed the pieces to his dog."

"That's gruesome."

"It was a different time and what they did was an affront to his honor. Honor was everything. When he was done torturing Ambrosio, he put their naked bodies on display outside of his home. The Volturi heard about it and Aro had one of the guard recover Ambrosio's body. He was barely alive when he was brought to Aro. He and Caius hated to lose such an up and coming talent so they decided to change Ambrosio. He was bitten while he was still breathing and most of his injuries healed."

"Most?"

"Unfortunately, the injuries to his face did not completely disappear. The wounds closed but he was horribly scarred. This was a terrible blow for someone that relied on his good looks his whole life. That was the first time Aro realized that there were some things that even venom could not heal."

"What happened to him?"

"He continued to compose but he never adjusted to his scars. He went slowly mad. Like the story, he could only go out in public with a mask. Over the next century and a half he would leave his music to be found and hide in the dark when it was played in music rooms of Italian society. Italian Opera began in the 1600's and that is when he eventually haunted the opera houses. His legend grew as people caught glimpses of him in the shadows."

"As time passed, the music wasn't enough. He was lonely and he realized he would go through eternity looking like a monster. Eventually, Aro agreed to put him out of his misery but not before he wrote some of the most haunting music you will ever hear. Edward knows some of his pieces, you should ask him to play one."

Bella looked sad again, so I changed the subject. I asked Carlisle how the hospital fund raiser went. Carlisle talked about what equipment they planned to buy with the funds raised. That took up most of the ride home. We changed cars at the house and I smoothly navigated the dark winding road back to Bella's. She was quiet the entire ride home. I parked in front of her house and turned the Volvo off but neither of us moved.

"What?"

"I can't stop thinking about the story Carlisle told us. Had you heard it before?"

"Carlisle, mentioned it to all of us before. That's why he takes the changing of a human very seriously. He wouldn't want such a disaster on his conscience if it went terribly wrong. Carlisle has always wanted to study the issue but the Volturi have forbidden it. That made me think that it may be a cautionary tale for vampires started by the Volturi."

"So you don't think he existed?"

"The composer existed and was a vampire. Whether he was scarred is another story."

"You think they would do that?"

"The Volturi rule with an iron fist in a velvet glove. What better way to instill fear into changing humans indiscriminately?"

"It would be a living hell to be trapped into the body of a monster for an eternity. If the story is true, it is a very sad one."

The story really bothered her. I thought about waiting, but this might be the right moment.

"Maybe this will cheer you up."

I held out a ring box and flipped it open. Even with the limited light the ring sparked. It was an Emerald cut diamond with two large triangular Emeralds on each side of the diamond. It was stunning.

Bella gasped. "Edward!"

I dropped to a knee in front of her. "Bella, will you marry me?"

"Edward, what are you doing? I already said yes."

"Well, I wanted to lock you down with a ring." I really wanted to lock her down with a justice of the peace. Las Vegas? No, she wouldn't go for that. I settled for sliding the ring on to her finger.

She looked at her hand with tears in her eyes. "Edward, it's beautiful."

"The stones were from my Mother's ring. I had it reset to update it. If you don't like it, you can pick something else out."

"No, Edward, it's perfect. I love that it was your Mother's."

"My father picked the Emeralds because they reminded him of my Mother's eyes."

"Oh, Edward, that just makes it more special. You had her eyes, didn't you?"

"Yes. I know you can't wear it openly yet, so I got you this." I went into my pocket again and took out a long gold chain. I took the ring from her finger and then kissed her hand. I put the ring on the white gold chain and placed it around her neck.

Bella held the ring and then slid it side to side on the necklace.

"Thank you. I can't wait until I can wear it on my finger permanently."

"Soon. I'll talk to Charlie after graduation."

The porch light flickered on and the drapes opened on the front window in front of the house. I looked at the dashboard clock.

"Oh my god. Could my father be less subtle? I'm over eighteen! I shouldn't even have a curfew anymore."

"You'll always be his little girl. There's a reason he is such a good chief of police. He's smart enough to know that I have lascivious intentions toward his daughter."

Bella giggled. "Really, tell me more about these intentions."

"I need to drop the car back at the house. Why don't you go inside and show your father you are home safe and sound. If you leave your window open for me, I'll be happy to show you some of them later."

I walked Bella to her door. She gave me one last kiss in defiance of Charlie's outrageous behavior.

"Don't be too long."

I assured her I would be back soon and then drove home. I parked the car and went into the house with a jaunty walk. Bella had my ring. I was so happy and I didn't care who knew. The family was in the family room when I walked in.

Esme looked up from some blue prints. "I hope Bella enjoyed the show."

"She did."

"You don't think what we said bothered her, do you?"

"What did you say?" Rosalie asked.

"Carlisle told her the Volturi tie to the Phantom of the Opera story."

Carlisle had shared the story of the scarred tortured vampire the first time Rosalie and Emmett had seen the play with the rest of the family.

"That should give her a pause before she decides for certain she wants to be one of us." I couldn't get angry at her, I felt the same way. She needed to be sure of her choice.

"Rose!" Esme scolded.

"What? All I'm saying is that she shouldn't have any romantic illusions about this life. She is choosing to change, unlike the rest of us."

"That is Edward and Bella's business."

I didn't even bother to enter the discussion. It was better saved for when we announced our engagement to the rest of the family. I knew Rosalie's regrets, I ignored my bitter sister and went up to my room to change so I could get back to my Bella.


	4. Chapter 3 - Graduation

**Chapter 3 - Graduation**

 **BPOV**

I had a hard time keeping Edward under control at school. I knew if he had his way he would tell everyone that I had agreed to marry him. Especially Mike and Tyler. I, on the other hand, didn't want everyone to stare at my stomach so I told him to chill. The week dragged but graduation finally arrived on Saturday. I walked across the stage in my cap and gown and accepted my diploma from the principal. I moved the tassel on my cap from one side to the other and Charlie and Renee cheered and whistled to my great embarrassment.

Charlie found her as I was speaking to Carlisle and Esme.

"Charlie, how nice to see you. We were just congratulating, Bella."

"It's nice to see you, too. Congratulations on your three graduating as well. Bella tells me they were accepted to Dartmouth."

"Yes, we've been very lucky."

"Well, we're having a little party at our house. You are welcome to come. Bella's Mom is here from Florida and I know Renee would like to meet Edward's parents."

"Thank you, Charlie. We'd love to," Esme said and then smiled at Charlie. He stared at Esme in a daze. I suppressed a laugh at his star struck reaction to someone I thought of as a mother. I had to remind myself that Esme was a beautiful woman frozen in her early twenties.

Charlie just stood there so I finally elbowed him. He snapped out of it with an embarrassed smile and said, "Great. We'll see you all in a bit. Bella, your Mother wants a few pictures in front of the school."

"Ah, Dad. Do I have to?" Okay, there might be a whiney twelve-year-old still in me.

"Absolutely! You only graduate once."

The Cullens snickered as they watched Charlie drag me back to my Mom.

I let the proud parental units to pose me and snap enough pictures to satisfy Charlie and Renee. They grabbed Mr. Welsh as he passed by and asked him to take a few pictures of the three of us.

"Come on Bella, smile," my Mom said. "I want to send some pictures to Phil so he can see you in your cap and gown." Phil broke his leg and the doctor recommended that he not fly. Renee came alone and it was weird to have my Mom and Charlie in the same house. So far they had kept it civil.

Once Renee was satisfied that the occasion was properly commemorated, Charlie drove us home so we could set up for the party. Edward, ever the gentleman, showed up to offer his assistance which was greatly appreciated. He moved Charlie's beloved grill and Renee commented.

"He's really much stronger than he looks."

I just smirked.

Most of the seniors that had just graduated party-crawled from one family celebration to the next. Jessica had just left with Mike to go to Eric's house. Jessica and Mike got back together in time for prom and they were on their last hoorah before they left for separate colleges. Angela was talking to Ben as he raided the table with the food and drinks. They had been accepted to the same college which gave me great hope that they would stay together as a couple. In addition to my classmates, Charlie had invited some of his friends from the reservation and a few from work.

"Congratulations on your graduation, Bella."

"Thanks, Billy. Thank you for coming today."

"We wouldn't miss it for the world, would we Jake?"

Jacob looked embarrassed. "Congrats, Bella," he said as he stood beside Billy's wheel chair. He fumbled in his pocket and then handed me a small wrapped package. "We got you something to remember Forks by when you are at college."

I liked Jacob. I wished that I had taken more time to get to know him. He seemed like a nice kid. He was certainly a handsome guy. I saw that he also had a serious growth spurt since the last time I had seen him. He had to have grown another five inches. He was well over six foot now and had really filled out. He was all shoulders and muscles. I hadn't spent much time with him since I ran into him and his friends at La Push beach before Edward had left. I had to admit that I felt bad that I had flirted with him then to get him to tell me more about the Quileute legends. I had figured out Edward's secret thanks to Jake. He had told me one of the tribe's legends of their mortal enemies, the Cold Ones. That and some research on the internet had been enough for me to put the pieces together of what Edward really was.

I thought Jake had shown a marked interest in me that day at the beach. I had kept my distance since because I hadn't wanted to lead him on, especially with an almost two-year age gap between us. I had seen him a few times when Billy had come over to watch a game with Charlie on the flat screen, but I had spent most of my time with Edward. Then when Edward left, I had isolated myself in my depression. I lost weight, had nightmares and virtually stopped talking. After several months of that behavior, Charlie had enough and threatened to send me to my Mom in Jacksonville. That was the last place I wanted to be in case Edward came back. I had been forced to approach Jessica with a suggested shopping trip to prove to Charlie that I was better. Jessica had invited Angela to our shopping trip in case I reverted to the zombie impression that I had perfected at school. That had worked out for me as I had ended up becoming friendlier with Angela. In fact, I had found the motorcycle that led to my first Edward hallucination when I went to help Angela with her homework. I had always wanted to learn how to ride a motorcycle but Charlie was dead set against them. I was in a rebellious mood when I had seen the used motorcycle near Angela's mail box with a for sale sign in front of it.

Angela's brother Alex had practically given me the bike for free because it had needed to be cleaned and tuned up. I had almost asked Jake to help me get the motorcycle running after he had done such a great job fixing up my truck. Charlie still brought it to him for oil changes and tune ups. Instead, Alex took pity on me and offered to do it. He even told me he would throw in a few lessons.

Jake's voice brought me back to the present. "Aren't you going to open it?"

I looked down at the wrapped gift again. I ripped into the excessive layers of wrapping paper as Jake gave me an expectant look. It was a small wood carved wolf. I held up the charm to the light and said, "Jake, it's beautiful!"

He smiled proudly. "Dad helped me carve it. I hope you like it. I noticed that you had a charm bracelet the last time I saw you. I put a ring on the wolf so you can attach it to your bracelet."

"I love it." I gave him a hug in thanks and then took off my bracelet. The diamond charm hit the light of the lamp and sparkled.

"Wow. That is some big rock."

"What? This? No, it's just a crystal heart that Edward gave me."

"Well, it sure sparkles like the real thing."

"I know. It's amazing how real these Swarovski crystals look. Here, can you help me put the bracelet back on." I held out my wrist. He took his time clipping the clasp in place. His hands were so warm. The polar opposite of Edward's.

"Gone for a minute and the wolves descend," Edward said as he brought me a drink.

I took the glass of water and leaned into his side as he put his arm around my shoulder and looked at Jake intently. Jake didn't look too pleased. Edward stared for a second and then smirked.

"What do you have there?"

"Jake made me a wolf charm that he carved out of wood," I said and held up my wrist so he could see my new charm.

"How appropriate," Edward muttered under his breath.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

"The workmanship is quite good."

"Bella said you gave her the crystal heart. I guess, now we're both represented on her wrist."

"Yes, it seems we are, but not necessarily in her heart." Edward looked at Jake meaningfully.

XXXX

"I like your Edward."

"Thanks, Mom. I do too." The last guest had left and I was in the kitchen helping my mom clean up from the party. Renee washed the dishes and I dried and put the clean items away.

"He's certainly a handsome young man. He must get it from his father."

"Actually, Carlisle adopted Edward."

"Really? His eyes look so similar to Carlisle's, I just assumed."

"No, he's related to Esme. When his parents passed away, Edward came to live with Esme. She is his second cousin. She and her husband adopted him."

"Yes, now that you mention it, I can see the resemblance in the hair color."

"In fact, all of the kids are adopted."

"I wouldn't have realized that if you hadn't told me. I mean, Esme and Carlisle look too young to have children their ages but they all seem to have the same striking looks and coloring. It says a lot about them, right? The way Esme and Carlisle opened their home and their hearts to those kids?"

"Yeah, they are good people."

"So, Charlie seems to think it is serious between you and Edward. Are you kids being safe?"

Just shoot me! "Mom!"

"What? I just want to make sure you are both being responsible. I know what it's like to be young and in love. I know we had the talk in Phoenix a few years before you left for Forks, but if there is anything you want to ask me, I'm here."

"I'm sure nothing has changed," I bit out somewhat sarcastically.

"That's not true. You have a boyfriend now. If you need me to take you to the doctor for birth control, we can do it before I go back to Florida."

"It's not like that. Edward is old school."

"Is that code for something? Does he only like to use condoms? That is fine, but you should really have a second form of birth control just in case."

"Mom! I'm a virgin." I said in a rush in the hope that it would end the embarrassing conversation.

"Still, you're going to be leaving for college in a few months. Based on how you two look at each other I don't see that lasting. We should get contraceptive sorted out for you before that happens."

"Mom, I really appreciate your offer, but for now, I think I'm good. If anything changes, I'll call you and I promise I'll talk over any questions or concerns I have with you. How's that?"

"Sure, baby. Whatever works for you."

Maybe this was the right time to prepare my parents for the news of our future engagement. Perhaps Renee could help me lay the groundwork with Charlie.

"To answer your earlier question, we are serious. Mom, I think he's the one."

"Really? What about college? If you go to different schools are you planning to try to do a long-distance relationship? Because I have to tell you that never works."

"Edward was accepted to University of Washington, too." I didn't tell Renee that I had received an acceptance to Dartmouth. I didn't want to worry Charlie about the fees until Edward and I worked out our final plan. "So, we don't have to worry about that."

"Are you talking about sharing an apartment near campus?"

"Actually, he's been talking about marriage."

"Bella, marriage? You are both so young and he's your first real boyfriend. Can't that wait?"

"Mom. I love him. He's it for me. I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else."

Renee sighed. "I know. I see how you look at him and more importantly, I see how he looks at you. I see the love in his eyes as soon as he catches sight of you. If you're not there he constantly scans the room as if he's looking for you. When you walk back into the room, he hones in on you and hovers as if to make sure you are there and safe. You move, he moves. It's very intense. Just remember, that kind of intensity can burn out."

"Edward is mature for his age. He knows what he wants."

"Do you know what you want?"

"Mom, you've always called me an old soul. I do. I want him."

"Does your father know?"

"I was kind of hoping you would help me ease him into the idea."

Renee laughed. "I hope your boyfriend can run fast. Charlie is armed and he is not going to take this well." Renee sighed and kissed my forehead. "Of course, I'll help you break it to Charlie."

I hugged her. "Thank you. I'm really glad you come for the graduation and to spend a few days with me."

"Bella, I hope you know I never wanted to let you go. I know you left to give me a chance to travel with Phil but that isn't why I agreed. When you asked if you could come live with Charlie I wanted to say no, but I owed it to you and to Charlie to have this time together. It was unfair that your father missed out on all those years of your childhood. This seemed a small price to pay to give him some of the joy that you brought me. I think having this time together has done wonders for you both so I can't regret it. Remember that I love you, baby girl."

XXXX

The next morning, Renee was visiting a friend that she had stayed in touch with from her days in Forks. Edward called and asked if I was free to come over. I jumped at the opportunity to spend some time with him. Emmett was in the family room packing some gear into a backpack when I walked in.

"Bella! How's it hanging?"

"Hairy and scary; how's your pair carried?"

Edward rolled his eyes but Emmett chuckled and gave me a high five. I always looked forward to our verbal sparring.

"Edward, are you ready for the big hunting trip?"

I whipped around to look at Edward. "You're going hunting?"

Emmett realized that he had stuck his foot in his mouth. Edward looked pissed at him.

"Sorry, Dude. I thought you already got permission from the ball and chain."

"Emmett, Bella is not a ball and chain."

"The old lady?" Edward did not look amused. "You know…because she is older than you?"

There were crickets. Emmett looked sheepish and said, "Sorry, Bella."

"No problem, Emmett. And Edward doesn't need permission from me to do anything."

"Edward, as a married man believe me when I say, don't fall for that. Learn from my mistakes. You will need permission for every decision you make."

Rosalie walked in and caught the tail end of Emmett's comments. She smirked. "It took a while, but I finally have him trained."

"Yes, Dear."

"See, Bella. Now you know how his pair are carried. Right in Rosalie's purse."

Emmett gave him the finger.

"So, the trip?" I brought the conversation back to the original topic.

"I'm sorry, I was going to mention it to you today. We just made the plan last night. We're going to meet up with our cousins in Alaska and hunt at a new preserve. We've exhausted our quota of the carnivores here and the Denali's found a new spot with some good game."

"You have quotas?"

"Of course," Emmett answered. "We have to hunt responsibly. We like the bears and the mountain lions the most because they taste better than the herbivores like deer. So, we have to make sure we don't over hunt a specific animal to the point that their numbers are too few to replenish in an area."

"Jasper and Emmett hack into the wildlife agencies to track certain game and their numbers in various national forests and preserves," Rosalie explained. "We factor in our hunting. We then rotate where we hunt so we don't upset the eco-balance of the locations around us."

I turned to Edward. "How long will you be away?"

"The spot they want to take us to is remote. We'll probably be gone for about five days."

That would be the most time we had spent apart since Edward and his family came back to Forks. I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I knew intellectually I shouldn't have a problem with it. I was an adult, but part of me still worried that he would leave and not come back.

"It's going to be great," Emmett went on with excitement. "Kate said that the area has an excess of bear. I can't wait to bag a few. It's been nothing but deer here for the last month. I feel like a vegetarian about to go on a steak bender."

"Come on Bear Boy, I need your help on one of the cars."

Emmett and Rosalie left the house for the Cullen's five car garage. Edward and I went upstairs to his room.

"Sorry I didn't tell you about the trip earlier. I only agreed because your Mom is here and I thought you might like the extra time to focus on her."

I flopped down on the chaise. "I appreciate that. She wanted to do a few mother daughter activities before she left. She went through my closet and declared we had to go shopping."

Edward grinned. "I know how much you must be looking forward to that."

"It could be worse. It could be my Mom _and_ your sister."

He laughed at my expression of horror.

"Besides, it sounds like it should be a good trip for all of you."

"Actually, Rosalie isn't going. She has to meet with one of her lawyers in Seattle about some properties she and Emmett are selling that couldn't be moved. She said she may come out later if the meetings end earlier than expected. It's not as big a deal to her since she doesn't mind the deer."

"Will you call me?"

"Kate said the cell phone reception is spotty at best where we are going so I won't be able to reach you by cell. I'll try to check in with you at one of the ranger stations but if you need anything you can always call Rosalie."

"Well, I'll miss you."

I realized that I wasn't as good at hiding my feelings as I had hoped when Edward said, "If you want me to stay I can skip this trip?"

I didn't want to be _that girl_. I didn't want to let my insecurities rule everything. "No, don't be ridiculous. Go with your family. Have fun eating a bear." I paused and then laughed. "There's a phrase I would have never expected to say to my future fiancée."

Edward grinned.

"How is it having your Mom and Dad under the same roof?"

"A little surreal. I don't really remember them living together. I was too little when Renee left Charlie. But they seem to be getting along well. If I'm honest, they seem to be getting along almost too well."

"What do you mean?"

"They have been in this bubble of remembering good memories. Renee is flirting up a storm with Charlie and I'm worried about him. He's never gotten over her and no matter how good things are right now, she still has Phil. I don't want him to get hurt."

"Charlie's a big boy. I've read his mind before and I promise he can take care of himself. Have you mentioned any of your concerns to your Mom?"

"Not yet. I keep expecting the other shoe to drop. I think it is only a matter of time before they start to remember the bad times too and this bubble they have been in will pop."

"Well, if things get worse, talk to your Mom. In the meantime, enjoy this time you have with her while you have it."

I knew he was alluding to the time when I would have to cut them from my life once I changed.

"I will. That is if I can survive her 'helping out' with the cooking. Last night, Renee decided to surprise Charlie with dinner. I walked in the door and found every pot in the house used and some food simmering on the stove. We sat down for dinner and Charlie went green when he saw his plate. Turns out she found some salmon in the refrigerator and decided to improvise. She found a recipe on the internet for Salmon Rice Casserole."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"No, it doesn't _sound_ bad but it looked like throw up over rice and didn't smell much better. I swear the fish would have jumped off the plate if it could have if she hadn't desecrated it by chopping it up and mixing it with pimento cheese and green olives."

"What the hell is pimento cheese?"

"Yeah, that was what Charlie asked me later. I had to google it. Let's just say you would never find it on a cheese plate in the finer dining places in France. Charlie said that last night's dinner brought home memories of when he and Renee were first married. He lost thirty pounds in the first six months and had food poisoning twice. He never knew what he would come home to find on his plate each night. It was like she followed a recipe book from the 1950's but the pages were stuck together creating a dish with mismatched ingredients. He said one night he came home to tuna and jello pie."

"Poor, Charlie."

"He was terrified when I first came to live with him that I picked up my cooking skills from her. I didn't tell him that I had mastered the peanut butter and jelly sandwich by the time I was four. Luckily for me, Renee had signed me up for girl scouts and I learned how to cook for my own survival and for a badge."

"You were a girl scout?"

"Yup."

"You had that uniform with the cute little knee socks?"

"Yup."

He waggled his eyebrows at me which made me giggle. "Are you telling me that you have a knee sock fetish, Mr. Cullen?"

"Maybe."

"Hmm. That does raise some possibilities. What other weird things do you like?"

"Well, I know that I like to tickle you!" And he pounced on me using his vampire speed to tickle me in all my vulnerable spots.

XXXX

It was the night before Edward was leaving and I desperately wanted him to stay the night. Edward had just dropped me off at my house from our date and was saying goodbye.

"Are you coming back? I miss you. You haven't stayed over since before graduation and now you are leaving for a week."

"Are you sure that's a good idea with your Mom in Charlie's room and your Dad on the couch downstairs?"

"Actually, he's camped out on his recliner. Don't worry. My Mom sleeps like the dead. No pun intended. Please, come back tonight. I'll leave the window open for you."

"If you're sure. I'll drop the car back at my house and then circle back."

He kissed my forehead and I reluctantly went into the house. I was trying to look normal in front of Edward, but my stomach had been in knots since I heard about the trip. I couldn't shake this feeling of foreboding. I knew I was being silly but the anxiety was still there. I said goodnight to my parents who were watching television together on the couch.

XXXX

 **EPOV**

"You'll like Dartmouth. The school is in a beautiful town and we can get our own place near campus."

Bella was cuddled in my arms with her eyes closed. She made some sleepy sound of agreement, but I didn't think she really heard what I said. I talked a little bit more about our future together, but her responses became more and more drowsy until I heard the soft sounds of her quiet snoring. I smiled indulgently as I watched her sleep. She was always surprised that it didn't bore me. I loved to watch her and every once in a while I was rewarded with her talking in her sleep. The first time I heard her say that she loved me was when she spoke in her sleep.

It had been a little different since I had come back to Forks. She sometimes had bad dreams. Unfortunately, this was one of those nights. Hours after Renee came up stairs and Charlie turned off the television, Bella started to thrash around in my arms. She was obviously in the throes of a nightmare. I tried to sooth her but she was too caught up in the dream.

Her head shook from side to side and her body tensed up as she cried out, "No. Don't leave me. Not again."

"Bella, wake up. You're having a bad dream," I whispered.

"Edward, please! Please come back."

It killed me to hear her beg for me not to leave. My departure, last September, had traumatized her more than I realized. I hadn't understood the true extent until I saw for myself just how bad her nightmares were.

I stroked her sweat soaked hair and tried to wake her again but she remained stubbornly in the nightmare. I went to shake her but I heard Charlie in the hallway and then at her door. I reluctantly rushed to her closet with vampire speed. The closet door was open a crack, but I was masked by the shadows. I watched helplessly as a tired but resigned Charlie come into the room and took Bella in his arms.

"Baby, wake up. You're having a bad dream." The tone of his voice held a resigned tiredness that indicated that this wasn't the first time he had to wake Bella up like this. He gave her a gentle shake and Bella looked at him groggily.

"What? Dad?"

"You had another bad dream, honey. Are you okay?"

She looked around the room in confusion for a moment and then said, "I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't mean to wake you."

Charlie sighed. "I thought things were better since Edward came back?"

"They are." She sighed heavily. "He's leaving for a few days and I guess it brought back some bad memories."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I'm okay. Go back to bed. I'm sorry for waking you."

Charlie tucked the cover around her and kissed her forehead and I saw a memory in Charlie's head that he had done this many times when she was a child. He was a stoic man but he truly loved his daughter. He gave her one last look before he shut off her light and closed the door.

Charlie's footsteps faded as he went down the staircase. Bella called out in a whisper, "Edward?"

In a flash I was back on her bed and had her in my arms.

"Bella, what was that?"

She looked embarrassed. "It was nothing. Don't worry about it."

"No, it wasn't nothing." I said in frustration. I wished for the hundredth time I could read her mind. "Tell me what you were dreaming."

She sighed. "It was my void dream."

"What the hell is that?"

Bella was silent for a moment and then reluctantly said, "After you left, I would have this dream. You and I are in the forest and you tell me that you are leaving. You say that I'm not good for you and you don't want me to come with you. You don't want … _me_ anymore."

I tensed at her words because they were obviously remnants of what I had said to her when I left her after her birthday. I truly thought that I was giving her a clean break. Instead I laid the seeds for her nightmares.

"In my dream I chase after you when you leave. I run after you calling your name as the forest gets darker and darker until there is no color and no light. I can't find you. I can't see anything. I'm so alone and then I feel myself shrinking into a void.

I looked at her in shock. How could I ever make up for the pain I caused her? My trip must have weighed more heavily on Bella than I realized to trigger the dream.

"I'm so sorry that I caused these nightmares, Bella. I'm not leaving you forever. I'll be back in a week, and then you won't be able to get rid of me. Please remember what I told you when I came back to Forks. Everything I said to you the day I left was a lie. I said what I thought would help you let go. I did it because I thought it was the only way to keep you safe. None of it was true. Please, believe me."

"I want to but sometimes it doesn't make sense. Why would someone like you be with someone as ordinary as me?"

Why couldn't she see herself clearly?

"Bella, there is nothing ordinary about you. Loving you makes perfect sense. You are a beautiful person both inside and outside. The fact that you love me knowing what I am is what doesn't make sense. However, the monster in me is grateful."

"Edward, how many times do I have to tell you that you aren't a monster?"

"Probably a few more. Just remember," I said as I grabbed the ring on the chain around her neck, "this tells you how much I love you and that I will always come back to you. Well, _this_ and the necklace we buried in our meadow. "

She nodded her head and put her hand over mine but I could see that a piece of her was still in pain and didn't quite trust me. I knew it would take time to win back her trust. When I got back we would sit down and talk it all out until she knew with every cell in her body that I loved her and she could trust me.


	5. Chapter 4 - Old Enemies

**A/N** – For those that followed or favorited this story prior to this chapter I hope you don't find it jarring, but I changed the story so that it is now written in first person. I went back to the earlier chapters and they have all been revised to reflect the person change. I hope you will re-read them, I think you will like the changes and the additions. I'm hoping that writing in the same style as the Twilight stories will gain this story more traction. I hope you enjoy.

 **Chapter 4 – Old Enemies Return**

 **BPOV**

"Maybe I shouldn't go?" Edward said between kisses as we snuggled on the chaise in his room.

"You need to hunt." The selfish part of me wanted to beg him to stay but that wasn't fair to him. I knew from the excitement in his voice when he spoke of this trip that he was looking forward to this new hunting area. Besides, he needed to hunt. Even I noticed how dark his eyes were; a sure sign of his hunger.

"Promise that when I get back we'll tell Charlie our news," he whispered in my ear.

I shivered in reaction to the seductive feel of his breath near my ear. If he kept doing that I would agree to anything.

"Ok, I'll lay the groundwork while you are gone so he doesn't have a heart attack or pull out his gun."

He laughed as he took my hand and pulled me off the chaise. He held my hand as I trailed behind him down the stairs and to the front of the house where the rest of the family had gathered.

"I don't want to leave you after last night. What if you have another one of those dreams?"

"Edward, go. I'll be fine. It will only be for a week."

"I hate to leave you alone for that long."

"You're not. Rosalie will be here and I'll be really busy with my Mom. She said she had some Mother/Daughter outings planned."

He still looked uncertain. I didn't want my insecurities to ruin his trip.

"Edward, I'll be fine. Go have a good time with your family and I'll be waiting for you when you get back." I tried to distract him with, "I hope you find a mountain lion."

He laughed and Emmett chimed in, "Don't forget about a bear for me!"

"And a bear for you."

"I'm going to miss you," Edward said softly as he kissed me again.

"Oh, for goodness sake Edward, it's just a few days. Your woman just said she is fine with it so listen to her," Emmett said impatiently after he gave one last kiss to Rosalie. "You aren't going off to war. Now put your big boy undies on and let's get going. The sooner we leave, the sooner you can get back to Bella."

He grinned at his brother's teasing. He gave me one last hug and a kiss and finally stepped away from me. I tried to smile as he waived and then they were gone in a blur.

I stood there until there was nothing left to see and then turned to Rosalie. Rosalie just stared at me.

For some reason, I felt compelled to fill the awkward silence. "Ok, well, I guess I'll see you later." I went to turn around and leave but something made me stop. I needed an answer to something that had been bothering me since the Cullens had returned to Forks.

"Why don't you like me?"

Rosalie looked bored. "Do you really want to do this now?"

"Yes, I want to do this."

"Fine. It isn't that I don't like you, Bella. I just think you and Edward are a mistake."

My stomach clenched at Rosalie's brutal words. "Why are we a mistake?"

"If James and the night of your birthday have taught us nothing, your proximity to us puts you in danger."

"I don't care." I knew being with Edward was worth any risk.

"But you also put _us_ in danger," Rosalie continued as if I hadn't interrupted.

"How could I put you danger?"

"Has Edward told you about the Volturi?"

"Who?"

"Come inside for a moment."

I followed Rosalie into the house and to Carlisle's study. A large painting took up one of the walls. The men in the painting sported knee breeches and ornate cutaway coats. Bella guessed the painting depicted some type of event set in the eighteenth century. I hadn't really looked at the picture that closely the night that Carlisle had taken me into his study to dress the wounds on my arms. I had been too focused on Carlisle's words about Edward and his belief that he lacked a soul. As I stared at the painting now, I noticed something.

"Is that Carlisle?"

"Yes. The three other men that surround him are the rulers we call the Volturi." Rosalie went on to explain each of the Volturi, their guard, vampire politics and self-policing.

"So you see, you put us all in danger if the Volturi find out that you know our secret."

"I would never tell anyone, Rosalie."

"Maybe not on purpose but if this doesn't work out with you and Edward again, who knows? We could all be sentenced to a true death if they found out we broke their number one edict."

I didn't know how to convince Rosalie that I would die before putting Edward or any of the others in danger.

"I also think you are so caught up in first love that you haven't thought about the future. Edward looks like a seventeen year old to you because you met him in high school. Had you seen him in college or medical school you would see how easily your perception of his age would change. He's not seventeen. He's an adult with decades of life experiences, while you truly are just a teenager. How can you be a match for that?"

I didn't say anything because deep down I knew I wasn't a match for Edward. However, as long as he wanted me, I wouldn't give him up.

"This is Edward's first real romantic relationship. He can't read your mind and that intrigues him. It makes you different. But is that enough to build a relationship on for eternity?"

Rosalie's words scored a direct hit to my insecurities. I had always worried that a big part of my attraction to Edward was that I was the exception to his gift.

"Will that be enough to keep his interest for another six months, 10 years or an eternity? He is old fashioned. If he was really serious, he would have made some move to make it official after we got back to Forks, but he hasn't. So forgive me if I'm not happy that you put Emmett and the rest of us in danger when there is a chance that you won't be a permanent part of this family."

I wanted to shout out that Edward had made a commitment to me but I refused to tell Rosalie our secret. Edward and I would pick the right time to share the news of our engagement with our families when we were ready. I wouldn't sully it just to prove a point to Rosalie.

Rosalie's voice softened. "I know you think you love him but you are so young. Even if he does ask you to be with him forever, you have no understanding what you will be giving up to be with him. I think you are caught up in the romance of the moment."

I couldn't keep the anger out of my voice. "I know what I want and I know that won't change."

"You think that now but that isn't true. What you want at eighteen, isn't necessarily what you want at twenty-five and definitely not what you want at thirty-five. You haven't lived and yet you are making a decision that you may regret for an amount of time that you have no ability to conceptualize."

"You don't think I know what my feelings are for Edward?"

"I think _you_ think you love Edward. I just don't think you understand what it will mean to be with him like us. You don't understand what you are giving up!"

"What am I giving up?"

"Possibilities! The possibility of children for one. The possibility of growing old with the man that you love, surrounded by the family that love created."

"Children aren't important to me. I don't see it as a sacrifice."

"That's what you think now because you are just a teenager. Children are an abstract concept to you. But you don't know how you will feel in a few years, a few decades. Unlike the rest of us, you have choice! If I had had your options, I would have never chosen this life."

"But this life gave you Emmett."

She looked sad for a moment. "And he makes it bearable. But it isn't enough. We're frozen in this existence with no possibility of change."

"I don't agree with you. You have the possibility of growing together. You have the possibility of being with your soul mate. That is something that not many people get. I'm sorry you don't like my choices, but they are _my_ choices. I respect you and your feelings. I hope you will respect mine and will give me a chance. If not for my sake, then for your brother. Nothing is more important to me than Edward. I want to spend the rest of my life with him."

Rosalie looked at Bella resignedly. "Forever is a long time for regrets."

 **XXXXX**

"Thanks for bringing lunch over, Bella." Billy said as I dried the last dish.

Billy had invited Charlie, Renee and myself to his house when he was at the graduation party. I thought three days of my Mother's cooking had driven Charlie to take a day off and to firm up a date with Billy to give himself a respite from her gastronomic efforts. When he told me about the lunch, I quickly called Billy and offered to bring some lasagna. I told him I could supply the main course and he and Jake could just be responsible for the salad and the garlic bread. Billy agreed and I was ecstatic that I didn't have to eat another fish. Billy normally cooked Harry Clearwater's fish fry recipe when he invited Charlie over for a meal. I was fished out. I felt like I would sprout gills if I had one more fish dinner.

"My pleasure, Billy."

I was glad to have a distraction from the conversation I had with Rosalie the prior day. I was angry when I left Rosalie but her words resonated with me. Was my attitude to changing too cavalier? Had I really thought it all through? Yes! I knew I wanted a future with Edward. I knew that he was willing to stay by my side even if I remained human but what kind of future would that be for him? Sure, it might work while I am young but I knew it would be a problem as I aged. How could I expect him to love me if I looked old enough to be his mother or his grandmother?

No. To have any hope of a real future, I needed to be his equal. The only way to be his equal was to become like him. As a human, I was too fragile, too weak. I was a potential target. To Rosalie's point, I put him at risk the longer I remained human. Another part of me, couldn't discount the hope that the change would make me more attractive so I would finally feel like I was good enough for him.

Billy handed me the last dish and I shook off my deep thoughts. I knew I needed to take Edward's advice and just enjoy the time I had with my parents. I would worry about Rosalie's words and the future another day. Edward would be home soon and we could talk it through then.

The lunch was surprisingly pleasant. Billy had never been Renee's greatest fan after she left Charlie. Yet, he kept it cordial through the meal and the conversation had flowed nicely.

"I'm sorry Jake wasn't able to be here. I can't believe how big he got. I remember when he and Bella were toddlers and used to make mud pies together."

Bella blushed at her mother's words.

"Jake certainly had a growth spurt," Charlie added. "There must be something in the water because I saw his friends Paul and Embry and they really bulked up as well."

Billy just laughed. "You should try feeding him, now. The boy eats me out of house and home. It's nothing like it was with the girls who seemed to always be eating salads. I'm sure once Jake gets back, he'll really appreciate the leftovers. Thanks for bringing an extra tray for the freezer. I'll have him drop off the plates."

Jake went to Portland to visit his aunt who lived in Massachusetts. His mother's sister accompanied her husband who was in Portland for a business trip. She couldn't make it to Washington so she had asked Billy if Jake could spend a few days in Portland with her and his cousins.

"No hurry. Mom and I will be in and out this week so you can hold onto it until you see my Dad."

"Does that mean you have some time to do some fishing, Charlie?"

Charlie looked at Renee.

"If you don't mind, I was thinking Bella and I could do a trip to Seattle. We could do some shopping, catch a show and stay overnight. We both know that none of that is on your list of favorite things."

Charlie didn't disagree.

"What do you think, Bella? It can be part of my graduation present to you."

"Sure, Mom. That sounds nice." I hated to shop but I knew it would make my Mom happy to do that for me. Besides, I had grown out of a lot of my clothes and could use a few new jeans and shirts.

"Well, I'm off the day after next. How about I pick you up about 5:00 am and we'll see what is biting?"

"That works."

Billy pulled out some desert and Renee poured the coffee. They spent another hour reminiscing and catching up. Charlie looked at his watch and said they had to be leaving. Billy saw them out and they firmed up their fishing plans.

Billy said, "I'll have the beer and the bait ready."

Charlie waived his hand out the window in acknowledgement and put Renee's rental car into gear. The day was overcast so the roads were dark as they made their way off of the reservation. Bella couldn't see the sky because of the dense forest until they turned onto the highway back to Forks.

"That was nice," Renee said. "I had a really nice time catching up with Billy. But it's not the same without Sarah."

I didn't really remember Billy's wife. She was a faceless shape in my memories. It was weird though. I couldn't remember what Sarah had looked like but I remembered that she had always smelled like apples and cinnamon.

"No, it isn't." Charlie agreed.

"How long has Billy been in the wheelchair?"

"Just after the twins left for Hawaii. Must be about four years now. The diabetes got really bad and it caused nerve damage to the bottom of his feet."

I tuned them out as I looked out the side window. I wondered if Edward was having a nice time with his family. He had only been gone two days but it had seemed like forever. I guessed that the trip to Seattle would make the time pass faster.

"Damn. I broke my nail. Bella can you hand me my bag?" Renee asked. "I think I have a nail file in there."

"Sure." I looked around the backseat and saw that Renee's purse was too far for me to reach without removing my safety belt. I unbuckled the belt and bent down to grab the bag. I heard a scream and popped up to see what was happening. I caught a glimpse of red hair as Charlie swerved in effort to avoid hitting a woman standing in the road. The car just missed her. Charlie pulled the wheel in the opposite direction to get the car back in the lane but he over compensated and the car went into a spin on the wet road. Charlie tried to regain control of the car but it hit a pot hole and careened off the road into the woods.

I grabbed the seat in front of me as I was bounced around. The trees flashed in a cacophony of green through the side windows as Charlie barreled through the forest. Tree limbs slapped and broke off against the sides of the car, the sturdiest scraped and dented the doors. Charlie hit a rut and the car went airborne. When it landed, the force catapulted me forward. For a moment I felt weightless and then there was pain. I screamed as I hit something hard and then everything went black.

XXXX

 **VPOV:**

I had to smile at the mayhem I had just caused. I pushed my long red hair out of my face and followed the tire skid marks into the woods and heard the car before I saw it. Covered in broken tree branches, it was nose down wrapped around the tree with the back tires slightly elevated. The engine whined as the tires spun uselessly in the air. I walked over to the driver's side and saw a man's head enveloped by an air bag. There was blood on the bag and his head was tilted at an unusual angle. It didn't take any of her supernatural senses to tell that he was dead. The woman in the passenger seat, however, was alive. I could hear her heart beating. Well, for now. The woman looked in her early forties. She was attractive, even covered by blood and debris. I could see a faint resemblance to my nemesis. The woman looked dazed as she took quick shallow breaths. Her face was bleeding from a variety of cuts. Her blood smelled delicious, but I had more important prey to deal with. Besides, this one wasn't going anywhere.

There was no one in the backseat but I saw that the windshield had a large hole in it. The shards of glass were on the dented hood of the car rather than on the front seat. That meant the hole was caused by something that was projected _out_ of the car.

I looked past the tree that had halted the car and listened for a second heartbeat.

"Bella," I called out in what some might describe as a childlike voice. It had served me well in the past. Humans had never found it threatening until it was too late. "Come out, come out wherever you are."

Where was the pesky girl? I took a deep breath. Yes, there was her scent. It was strong. She was bleeding. Her blood smelled so much more appetizing than that of her parents. I followed the scent of freesias and found the girl that I hated with every molecule in my body. The girl that was responsible for the death of my mate.

She was face down on the ground. Her legs were bent at awkward angles. That had to hurt. I picked the girl up by the back of her head like she was a toy marionette. I wrapped my hand around her throat and watched as she rocked in the air as her broken legs swung uselessly from side to side. The pain woke the girl up.

"Hello, Bella. Remember me?"

The girl looked dazed but then recognition showed in her eyes. "Victoria," she rasped out. The sound of her voice made me loosen the pressure around her throat. I didn't want this to end too soon.

"Yes. I'm so glad you haven't forgotten me."

"You. You … in the road?"

"Yes, clever girl, that was me. I wanted to get your attention. How did I do?"

"Why?" Bella croaked out in obvious pain.

"Now, now. Don't act dumb. You know why I'm here. Surely, you have been expecting this?" My anger made me forget the fragility of the being I held in my hand and I put more pressure on Bella's throat again. "It was your fault. James would be alive if not for you and your Edward."

She started to choke and I eased up again.

"James?"

"Yes! My mate! Now I'm going to return the favor. A mate for a mate. I only wish Edward was here to watch it."

"Edward?" she whispered.

Was this girl stupid? Of course, Edward Cullen. Soon he would be next.

"Don't worry. I'll tell him every detail, so he'll feel like he was here when I see him. But if Laurent was correct, he'll be able to catch the replay in my head when I see him. And I _will_ see him," I vowed. "Now, I want to make sure I get the screams right so give me another one." I shook the broken human again and Bella screamed out in agony.

"Yes, exactly like that," I purred in satisfaction. "Oh, Bella. I have to say you have looked better," I taunted. What little of her face that wasn't covered by blood was almost unrecognizable. "If your Edward could see how you look right now he might be grateful to me; a mercy killing you might say."

Renee's moans distracted me for a moment. "Is that your mother?"

"Mom," Bella cried out.

"I'm afraid she isn't going to make it, dear. Think of it this way, at least you will all be dead together."

Bella cried in misery.

"Now, I've played with my food long enough. My only regret is that at the rate you are bleeding you may not make much of a meal."

Just then a growling sound came from behind. I turned to see what it was when another growl came from my right and then from my left. My eyes widened in disbelief. I was surrounded by horse sized wolves.

"What the hell?"

A wolf came out of the woods behind Bella and snapped at me. Then another came at me from the side. I tried to swat it away but its huge jaw snapped on to my arm and wouldn't let go. Seconds later, razor sharp teeth cut into my leg. How was this possible? Nothing should be able to break through my skin except another vampire. I realized I had to drop the girl to defend myself. No! This wasn't happening. I was so close to my revenge. What were these creatures?

I threw the bloodied girl to the side and ignored her cry of pain. I had to focus on the wolf that had my arm in its jaw. It was shaking its big head from side to side and I felt my arm start to tear. I realized it might be able to tear the arm away from my body. I had to break its grip. I pulled at its jaws with my one good arm and was able to push it away. I followed the shove with a kick to the other wolf. I smiled in satisfaction when I heard its whimper of pain. My victory was short as I heard the growls of the other wolves.

I was surrounded. I crouched in readiness for their attack. They didn't know what they were dealing with. I feinted to the right but I hadn't anticipated that a wolf would jump and attack my head. I tried to duck but I was too late. The wolf pounced and I found myself on the ground. The other wolves pounced and I felt myself being ripped apart. I screamed in terror and in pain. My last thoughts were of James. Is this how he felt when the Cullens tore him apart? My love, I'm sorry. I tried to avenge you. There was a shimmer and then I heard the rasp and the smell of smoke. My last thought was to question how the wolves were able to build a fire.

XXXX

 **SPOV**

There was another shimmer and then a large naked Native American man stood over the burning pile.

"Paul, check on the girl. Embry, check the perimeter and make sure she was alone," I said as I put on the shorts that I had tied to my leg. The others did the same.

Another imposing young man went over to the fallen girl. "She's lucky we caught the blood sucker's scent. She's breathing but she looks in bad shape. I think her legs are broken."

"Paul, go call for help." Paul looked in the crushed car and found a cell phone. He dialed 911 as Embry came back.

"I couldn't find any other scent. I think she was alone."

I nodded as I knelt over Bella. There was so much blood. I applied pressure to the wound on her leg that looked the worst. I looked back up at Embry. "We need to remove any trace of the creature before help gets here."

Embry nodded and then looked around the clearing. He made sure all the pieces were burned and then cleaned up any evidence of Victoria's burnt remains.

Paul came back and looked at the poor girl. "Is she awake?"

"No."

"Her parents are dead," Paul said quietly.

My stomach clenched.

"If the paramedics don't get here soon, she will be too."

Just then, a siren could be heard in the distance.

"Paul, go out to the highway and direct the paramedics down here."

Ten minutes later, two EMT's with their emergency kits hurried down the path that the car had made through the trees. One checked on the two victims in the car. Paul hurried the second EMT to where I knelt beside Bella.

The EMT looked down at the fallen girl, his jaw went slack as did his hand. The emergency kit fell on the ground. The sound woke the EMT out of his reaction.

"Please, she's lost a lot of blood," I said urgently.

The EMT knelt beside the broken girl and checked her airway and then her breathing. There were bruises developing around her neck and her breathing was labored.

"What happened?"

"We were coming back from cliff diving and we saw the tire tracks and the broken trees. We followed the tracks and found the car."

The second EMT came to see if he could help. "The two in the car are dead. John, the man was Chief Swan."

The EMT beside Bella looked down at the bloodied girl. "Oh God, this must be his daughter, Bella. I treated her once before, when she was a child."

The EMT looked at the wound on Bella's leg. Even without medical training, I could tell her legs were broken. They were bent at odd angles. When was the EMT going to do something about the blood? There was too much blood.

As if he heard my inner monologue, the EMT said, "Okay….?"

"Sam."

"Okay, Sam, move your hand so I can see what is going on there."

I moved my hand and blood pumped out at steady pace. The EMT quickly put a pad over the wound and the other EMT took over putting pressure on it as he worked to secure it. I felt useless as I stood there.

"She needs blood. I remember her blood type from when I treated her as a child. We don't carry that on the bus. I'm not sure she'll survive the trip to the hospital without it."

I told the paramedic each of our blood types.

"How do you know your blood types?"

"We had to do it in high school biology. Do any of ours match?"

"Yes, both of yours would match," he said as he pointed to Quil and me. "This isn't protocol, but she won't make it if we don't get blood into her. I've rigged up something similar when I was a medic in Iraq. If you are willing, I'll do it."

"Of course." I said and held out my arm.

Twenty minutes later the EMT had tubing running between Bella and I in the ambulance. His partner radioed for a medevac helicopter. I heard them say that Bella needed a hospital with a Level 1 Trauma Center. That meant Seattle.

The state troopers arrived just as the helicopter landed on the road.

"What happened?" The trooper asked one of the EMT's as they moved Bella from the ambulance and loaded her into the helicopter. Even with the sound of the rotors moving, I could hear their conversation.

"It's bad, Bob. It's Chief Swan and his family."

"Charlie Swan?"

"Yes, and his daughter and ex-wife."

"Didn't know Renee was back in town." Bob pointed to me and the rest of the pack that stood behind the crime scene tape and looked concerned. "What are they doing here?"

"They found them and called 911. They won't leave."

"Ok. Where are Charlie and Renee?"

The EMT looked sad. "The Chief didn't make it. Looks like the car tried to avoid something in the road, probably a deer or some other animal. The car skidded and ran into the tree line. Unfortunately, the daughter wasn't strapped in. Looks like she went through the windshield. We're taking her to the hospital with oldest of the Quileute boys. He is the correct blood type and has agreed to donate more blood if necessary. John called for a second bus to pick up Chief Swan and his ex-wife so you can clear and investigate the scene."

The EMT was just about to close the doors to the helicopter when Embry threw a shirt and shoes to me. I nodded my thanks and called out to Quil. "Meet me at the hospital in case they need more blood. Bring me some extra clothes. Let Paul handle the state troopers."

The helicopter rotors started up and the helicopter took flight. It took a while for me to stop clutching my seat. I had never ridden in an airplane before, let alone a helicopter. I loosened my grip and focused on the changing scenery. It went from wooded, to scattered houses and then suburbs. It wasn't long after that I caught sight of the city.

"EM09er to base."

"This is base, EM09er."

"EM09er, 10 minutes out. Are we cleared for landing?"

"EM09er, you are in queue, recommend alternative LZ2. An emergency team will finish transport."

"Shit," the helicopter pilot muttered.

"What?" Sam asked.

"We can't land on the new wing's pad. We've been waived off to the old hospital building. That means we have to transport her from one building to the other."

I looked out of the window and saw the circle with an H on the roof a building. The helicopter hovered and then landed with a thump. Bella was transferred to a gurney and the emergency personnel pushed her inside the building to a waiting elevator. I ran beside her still connected. I heard her groan and then I saw her eyes flutter open.

"Bella, it's Sam. You are going to be okay."

She looked from side to side as if trying to take in her surroundings. She was rushed across a parking lot to the second building and into the emergency bay. The EMT's had flushed Bella's face with saline but there was too much glass in the wounds to cover her face with bandages. I couldn't believe the poor girl was awake. I knew she was in incredible pain. I wished I knew what to say to reassure her. I held her hand and squeezed it hoping that would make her feel less alone. My heart ached for her as I saw the pain in her eyes.

They wheeled the gurney through the emergency room doors just as a woman with a child exited the building. From the look on the hospital staffs' faces, they shouldn't have been there. The sign on the door indicated that the exit was for hospital personnel only. The mother gasped when she saw Bella's uncovered face on the gurney. The little girl took one look at Bella's bloodied face and started screaming and pointing at Bella, "Monster, Mommy! Monster!"

I wanted to clamp a hand around the child's thoughtless mouth when I saw Bella's eyes widen and then tears fell down into the bloody mess that was her face. Bella closed her eyes but the tears kept falling. I glared at the little girl and the mortified mother and wished I could have said something but I had to rush to keep up with the moving gurney into a treatment room.

One of the doctors that had met the helicopter on the roof yelled out instructions to the nurses and medical personnel as he cut Bella's ripped and bloodied clothes away from her body to check for further wounds. Another doctor moved with purpose into the room and asked, "Is this the car crash victim from Forks?"

"Yes. Eighteen year old female. She presented with severe lacerations to her face from a car windshield, two broken legs and based on how she is breathing she may have a cracked rib."

The new doctor yelled out, "Someone call Plastics. We'll also need someone from Ortho to check her legs." He looked down at Bella's leg. "The most pressing issue looks like this leg wound. I think she nicked an artery. We need to get her up to surgery." He asked a nurse to see if the blood bank had sufficient stock of her blood type.

The first doctor told him about her blood type and explained my presence. My head spun as I heard the medical personnel call out questions and orders above a bloodied and broken Bella.

"Do we have a name?"

"Isabella Swan."

The new doctor looked down at Bella and told her reassuringly, "Isabella, we are going to take good care of you."

"Bella," I cut in. "She likes to be called Bella."

The doctor nodded his head and looked back down at his patient. "Bella, I know you are in pain, but we need to get your leg taken care of before we can clean up the rest of your wounds. Can you be brave for me for just a little bit longer?"

I thought I saw Bella nod before blood was brought to the room and I was disconnected from Bella. I saw more tears roll down her bloodied face as I was pushed out of the treatment room.

XXXX

 **RPOV**

I pushed my way through the revolving door of the four star Seattle hotel when my cellphone rang. I dug around my Chanel bag for the phone. I didn't know why we just didn't buy an apartment in Seattle. I hated staying in a hotel even one as upscale as the Fairmont. I located the phone and swiped the screen.

"Are you almost done?" A female voice asked above the sound of horns and sirens.

"Hi, Tanya. What's up?"

Tanya had to miss the hunting trip to meet with a Volturi emissary in New York. Eleazar set up the meeting in New York in an effort to keep the Volturi as far from the Pacific Northwest as possible. I had been disappointed that Tanya had to miss the hunting trip for the meeting in New York. Kate normally took care of these meets. I had hoped that if Edward spent time with Tanya away from Bella he would see what a mistake he was making. I knew Tanya was perfect for him. Why couldn't he see that?

She was beautiful, accomplished and shared some of the same interests that Edward had in music, history and the classics. They looked good together. People stopped and stared when they walked side by side. She was such a better match for him than Bella.

I thought Tanya had made some progress with Edward when we were forced to leave Forks after the 'great birthday debacle'. Tanya had lent him a sympathetic ear before he went traipsing down to Brazil on a wild goose chase. Then Alice had her vision of Bella jumping off a cliff. I had kicked myself for telling him about Alice's vision when he checked in with the family. Edward had called Bella and found out she was okay but Edward said he wasn't. The next day he ran back to Forks. I could still hear Tanya's comment when I had recounted the sad series of events.

" _Too bad the human didn't really die when she jumped off that cliff."_

Tanya was obviously disappointed that Edward ran back to Bella. She had thought that if Edward and Bella were apart for just a little longer, he would have gotten over the human. I believed that too. That is why I wasn't sorry for what I had said to Bella the other day. I knew Edward would be angry if he found out, but I stood by every word. I had been biding my words with both of them but I hadn't been able to hold back when Bella confronted me.

Tanya's voice came over the line again. "I'm done with Demetri. Why don't you fly over and we can shop? Maybe go to a few clubs? Remember that riot we started at Studio 54."

"Good times," I laughed, but then go serious. "What did Demetri want?"

"He had a gift from Aro to Eleazar that he wanted hand delivered."

"Just a gift?"

"And a request." Of course there was a request. The Volturi never gave without expecting to get something in return. Tanya continued, "Aro wants Eleazar to come to Italy for a short stay to assess the potential gifts of a few newborns."

"Will he go?"

"Probably. It keeps Aro happy and out of America."

Something that all of them wanted.

"So how about it? Want to meet me in Manhattan?"

"Let me think about it. I had to stay an extra day in the city because the attorney got called out for an emergency. I only have an overnight bag with me."

"Who cares? You can wear something of ours or we can hit the designer stores. Imagine shopping without Alice's interference."

That was tempting. While Alice had impeccable taste, it was like shopping with a three star general. Dissension in the ranks was not tolerated.

"I have one more thing I want to do in the city and then I'll call you with my travel arrangements." We had a jet rental service that we used so we could travel privately. No one wanted to risk Jasper having a moment of weakness on a commercial airliner.

"Sounds good."

I put the cell phone back into my purse. I looked up from the bag and noticed that I was near the front of Seattle General hospital. On impulse, I decided to check in with the neo-natal unit to see if they needed a Cuddler today. I made my way to the reception desk that was off the corridor that led to the emergency department and flashed my volunteer badge to the front desk.

I had joined a Cuddler Program when the family was in Illinois and found a similar one when we moved to Washington. When I had read about the program in a newspaper in Chicago, I knew I wanted to participate. The article talked about the heroine epidemic that the city had been experiencing. The untold collateral damage were the babies born with the addiction. The story covered the challenges that the hospitals encountered as they dealt with the babies as they went through opioid withdrawal. They were irritable, shook, and constantly cried. The hospitals found that cuddling helped calm the babies. It gave them a sense of comfort and security. In the long run, the hospitals noticed that the babies held regularly needed less medication and were able to, on average, be released faster. The problem was that the understaffed nurses didn't have the time to devote to these babies. So, a program had been started calling for volunteers to be cuddlers. Volunteers held the addicted babies as well as preemies, babies born with HIV or just abandoned infants.

The hospital staff usually welcomed my presence. They appreciated my innate ability to identify issues before they became a crisis. They didn't know I had trained as a doctor. With my enhanced senses and medical training, I had saved a few of the babies that had been assigned to my care over the years.

I had resumed my work as a volunteer at the Seattle hospital when we moved back to Forks. It wasn't something I spoke about with the family before the move so I hadn't mentioned it when we came back. Alice had never brought it up so I had no idea if she knew.

I cherished the time I spent with the children. For a few hours, it filled a hole inside me that nothing else had. A hole, I knew, Esme felt as well. Something I tried to warn Bella about before it was too late for her. She still had a chance to avoid this pain and regrets if she would only listen and come to her senses.

The receptionist called up to the neo-natal unit as I absently stared out at the glass wall that overlooked the emergency bay. The flash of movement caught my attention and then I heard, "Is this the car crash victim from Forks?"

Forks? I focused on the response of the man that had wheeled the patient in. I easily heard the rapid orders and responses of the doctors and nurses even from the distance between the treatment room and the reception area. Forks was a small town. I wondered who they were treating. It must have been bad if they had been taken to Seattle. I ignored the receptionist as she called out to me that I was cleared to go up to the neo-natal unit. I walked closer to the hallway that led to the Emergency room. I froze when I heard Bella's name. Then I caught the scent of something familiar.

XXXX

 **SPOV**

I watched as Bella was wheeled over to some elevators.

"Thank you for donating blood. She probably wouldn't have survived the trip if not for you."

"Will she be alright?"

"She has some serious injuries. We'll know more after her surgery."

"Do you need any more blood donations?"

"Well, we can't take any more from you today." They took a sample for testing since to make sure Bella didn't have to worry about any diseases from my donation. They would find it clean. No one had been sick since each of had phased the first time.

I knew they probably take even more blood because of the regenerative power the pack seemed to have. We learned about it when Embry had been wounded by the dreadlocked vampire. Embry's open wounds healed within minutes after we had defeated the tick. I was sure that any blood I had given had already replenished.

"Another guy from home is the same blood type. He was meeting me here in case you needed another donor."

"Her blood type is rare. It would be great if he could donate some blood."

I wasn't sure what kind of affect our blood would have on someone. Bella had already received it so there was no use worrying over what had already been done. However, I would rather not risk anyone else.

"Can we make a directed donation?"

"Of course. Just fill out the paperwork when your friend does the donation." I nodded in appreciation. "Look, I heard her parents didn't make it. If you plan on waiting around, there is a surgical waiting room for family and friends on floor three. I'll list you as family. You can wait there and someone will give you an update on your friend's condition." The doctor gave me directions and left.

I went up to the third floor and sat. Quil arrived two hours later. He made his donation and took a seat to wait with me. Quil said that the news of Charlie and Renee's death was already out at the reservation. I sent him back to convince Billy to wait at home until we knew more about Bella's condition. I had told the pack not to say anything the blood sucker causing the accident. I would talk to Old Quil about that when I got back to the reservation. I also told him not to mention the damage to Bella's face. I got a call from Billy an hour after Quil got back. I calmed him down. He agreed to wait at home after I promised him that I would stay at the hospital with Bella so she wouldn't be alone.

I knew that Billy cared about Bella and would feel obligated to be there for her in Charlie's place. Jake was going to be devastated. Quil and Embry constantly teased Jake about his crush on Bella. Thankfully, Jake was away and wasn't with them when they had found her. I stared at the same ugly picture on the wall for an hour. There was nothing in the waiting room to distract me from my dark thoughts. The television was really a monitor that flashed the status of the surgeries. I saw an abbreviation on the screen which I easily connected to Bella's surgery. The screen listed the time in, the doctor and the status of the surgery.

I hoped Bella survived this. I had a soft spot for the girl since I had rescued her in the woods after the Cullens had left Forks. Harry had called me after Charlie called him in a panic when he couldn't find Bella in the woods near his house. She had left a note that she was taking a short hike but hadn't made it home before dark.

Two days earlier, Paul and Embry had reported to Old Quil that they had seen the Cullens packing up their house while they were on patrol. My first thought echoed theirs, 'good riddance'. If not for them, my life would have been far different. If not for them, I would have never hurt the women in my life. I lived with the guilt of the emotional toll I took on Leah when I left her for her cousin. Emily hadn't received any great prize. I lived with the guilt of the physical toll I too on Emily. She got too close one day when I phased and she would bear the scars of that encounter on her face for the rest of her life.

If not for the Cullens, I would have been like the rest of the tribe, thinking that the old legends were just stories. Instead, I found myself living the legends. I was responsible for leading a pack of unprepared and volatile teenagers that should have been acting their ages instead of assuming the roles of protectors of their land and people.

I had Paul follow up the status of the Cullens the next day and he had found the house deserted. The pack had celebrated their departure with bonfires at the beach. Then Charlie had called Harry asking for help. Harry knew that Bella had been seeing one of the Cullens and had worried that something bad could have happened to her. Harry was concerned that the Cullens could have bitten the girl and left town before they were discovered by the tribe. The Cullens knew the penalty of breaking the treaty. It had turned out that the copper haired one had just broken up with Bella and she got lost in the woods. I had combed the woods for her and found her curled up on a bed of leaves under a tree with dried tears on her sleeping face.

I had brought her back to a grateful Charlie. I heard later from Billy that Bella hadn't taken the break up well. The pack, on the other hand, had been glad to see them leave. I had hoped that once the Cullens had left things would go back to normal but then the red-headed female vampire and the dreadlocked vampire kept invading their land. The pack had easily caught and destroyed the dreadlocked vampire. The red-head had proven more elusive.

I had seen Bella a few times around town after I found her in the woods and I felt bad that she had still seemed depressed. She had looked like Leah had looked after I had imprinted on Emily. Maybe it was residual guilt over Leah, but I felt somewhat responsible for Bella. That only compounded when I caught her cliff diving. I had laid into her after I dragged her from the water. She had promised to never try something like it again. A few weeks later, I heard the Cullens had come back and she had resumed her relationship with the copper haired vampire.

The Cullens had kept to the terms of the treaty so there was nothing the tribe could do when they came back. I hated their presence because a few weeks after they returned, Quil had gone through the change. Old Quil said it could have been the Cullens or it could have been the red-headed female vampire we had just killed that had made another tribe member change. All I knew was that as long as the Cullens were nearby, they or those like them brought danger to my people. They brought danger to this girl.

The sight of the doctor tugging off his surgical cap as he walked into the room pulled me from my angry thoughts. I couldn't read anything more than exhaustion from the surgeon's facial expression. I stood up and asked, "How is she?"

"We were able to repair the nicked artery in her leg. The Orthopedic surgeon was able to set her legs and her collarbone. The area of concern now is her face. She suffered one of the worse facial traumas I have ever seen."

"What do you mean?"

"There is nothing left of her face. When she went through the windshield glass, it was like her face went through a meat grinder. She is looking at multiple surgeries and skin grafts, and even then, there might be severe scarring. She's lucky she didn't get any glass in her eyes."

The doctor provided more information and I dropped into my seat at just how bad Bella's situation was. The doctor said that Bella would be taken to a room once she was out of ICU. I sat with my head in my hands stunned. I thought of Emily. I knew from experience what something like this could do to a woman and her self-esteem. I saw the reaction that child had when she saw Bella in the emergency bay.

 _This was so wrong!_ This poor girl shouldn't have had to worry there were monsters in the world. She shouldn't have lost her parents to them and now it looked like she lost her future to them. It took every ounce of my control to tamp down my rage. The last thing I needed was to phase in a hospital waiting room. I jumped up and kicked the chair. It flew across the room and splintered. I needed to get out of there. I needed air. . ]


	6. Chapter 5 - A New Reality

**A/N 1 –** Thanks to AliceDoubtfire, my beta. In case you are interested, the Italian murder story in my story is LOOSELY based on a real historical murder I read about. I thought it would be a great way to give rise to the Phantom of the Opera legend backstory. The real murderer was Carlo Gesualdo who was an Italian composer from the 1500's that murdered his wife and her lover.

 **A/N 2** \- I have been trying to update once a week. I'm going into a busy time at work, so to motivate me to keep this update schedule it would be great to see some reviews. I would greatly appreciate it if you could take the time to leave a review if you like the story and want to see more.

 **Chapter 5 – Waking Up to A Changed Reality**

 **BPOV**

Thirsty. I was so thirsty. I felt like I was fighting my way out of a tunnel. I focused on the pin point of light. I had to make my way toward the light so I could get a drink. The harder I fought the bigger the light became. My eyelids felt like they weighed a hundred pounds but I forced them open.

I squinted at the fluorescent ceiling lights. Wait. My room didn't have ceiling lights. I tried to focus. My brain felt fuzzy. I looked around and realized I was in a hospital room. Why was I in a hospital room? I tried to move my arms and found one side wrapped in bandages and the other hooked to tubes. I felt my heart rate increase at the same time that the heart monitor beeps increased.

"You're awake," a disheveled looking man in a white jacket said at the end of the bed. He made a note on my chart and then looked at me again.

"I'm Dr. Gurtze. I was the doctor on call when you came into the ER. Do you know where you are Miss Swan?"

I opened my mouth but only a croak came out.

"Please, Ms. Swan, don't try to speak. Your throat was damaged in the accident. Your vocal chords are swollen and if you try to speak you'll do permanent damage. You'll have to keep quiet until the swelling goes down and we can assess the extent of your injury. I'm afraid your shoulder is dislocated which could make writing difficult if you're a righty. Are you a righty?"

I nodded my head.

"Alright, so no writing. For now why don't we stick to yes and no answers?"

I nodded.

"Do you know where you are?"

I shook my head no.

"You are at Seattle General."

"Do you remember what happened?"

I shook my head again.

"You were in a car accident, yesterday."

Accident? I remembered the lunch at Billy's. I remembered getting into the car with my parents and thinking about Edward. There was a flash of red and then nothing. My parents! Where were my parents? Were my parents okay?

I looked at the doctor in panic. Another croak escaped my throat.

"Please! Remember don't speak. I'm going to tell you everything you need to know. Normally, I would wait until you were stronger to talk to you about some of this but there are some time constraints for treatments related to some of your injuries. We've reduced your pain medication so you can make some decisions. I'm afraid you are the only one that survived the accident."

Tears spilled out of my eyes but not down my cheeks. I hadn't felt the tears on my cheeks. I tried to raise my arm to touch my face.

The doctor saw my movement and quickly said, "I need you to lie still. Ms. Swan, you suffered two broken legs and some cracked ribs. You'll find breathing difficult due to the ribs and the throat injury. We had to repair a nick in your leg that caused you to lose a lot of blood. The most severe injuries, however, were to your face."

I tried again to touch my face with my good arm but the IV line held me back.

"It appears that you went through the windshield of the car when it hit a tree. We removed the glass and debris but there was extensive bone and tissue damage. Perhaps, you would like your young man here while I explain the rest?"

Young man? Was Edward here? I felt hope for a moment and I looked around but the doctor was the only one in the room.

"He stepped away for a moment but he has been here since you were brought in."

That didn't sound right. Edward was away. Maybe Alice saw something and Edward came back? I racked my brain to remember but it only made my head hurt. The rhythm of the heart rate monitor increased. The doctor saw my distress.

"Do you want to wait until he is here to talk more? I think he said his name was Sam."

That's right. I remembered Sam voice telling me everything was going to be okay. I looked at the doctor's grave expression and I wasn't so sure Sam was right. I shook my head at the doctor. I needed to know what happened.

"Alright." He called another doctor into the room. "Ms. Swan this is Dr. Philips, he is a plastic surgeon with the hospital. I'm going to leave you with him as he explains your injuries, your treatment options and the need to make some treatment decisions."

Dr. Philips was tall and handsome. He had a square jaw and beautiful light blue eyes. I couldn't stop the random observation that he had the whitest teeth I had ever seen when he opened his mouth to ask, "Hello, can I call you Bella? Your friend Sam said you prefer Bella to Isabella."

I nodded.

He gave me a reassuring smile. "Bella, I was here last night when they brought you in. As Dr. Gurtze said, there was a lot of damage to your face." He spoke about skin grafts, bone reconstruction and a long haul of surgeries. He explained the time sensitivity of some of the surgeries to avoid nerve paralysis. I sat numb as each word reverberated in my head. "Your bandages need to be changed frequently. I'm going to do this first round and explain in better detail what can be done so you can make some decisions. Right now I need to make sure there are no signs of infection."

He called a nurse into the room to assist him as he carefully took off the bandages. He used saline to wet the bandages so they wouldn't stick to my face as he carefully pulled each one away with some tweezers. He spoke as he worked explaining my options. I winced as he removed a piece of bandage.

"I know this is hard but the important thing is you are alive and will get better," he said as he removed another strip of cloth. He spoke about managed expectations for recovery and a new reality.

I looked at the nurse's expression as the doctor removed each bandage. Her face grew more shocked as each strip taken away revealed more of my face. I felt my insides clench in fear as I saw the nurse gladly turn away when the doctor took the last bandage off and asked her for the clean bandages.

He looked at my face intently and probed different areas. "The wounds don't show any sign of infection and the tissue looks remarkably better than it did yesterday." There was some surprise in his voice. "I can see from just this little amount of time, that you are a good healer. That's really good."

The nurse came back and handed him the clean bandages. He started to unroll the gauze but I stopped him. I pointed to the tray along with the tweezers and scissors. It took the doctor a moment to understand what I wanted.

"Bella, I don't think that is a good idea."

The nurse's reaction had affected me. I became more insistent in my pointing. The doctor looked sad but complied. He took a hand mirror from a tray and held it up to my face. My eyes widened at my reflection and I couldn't hold back a scream. The doctor issued a terse order to the nurse. The nurse handed the doctor a needle and the doctor shot the contents into my IV. Within seconds my eyes closed and my head drooped as I was put out of my misery to float in a sea of blackness.

XXXX

 **RPOV**

I walked the halls of the hospital in my white coat is if I owned them. I was familiar with this hospital but more importantly, I was familiar with the routine of many hospitals from my years as an intern in various hospitals around the country. I knew no one would question my presence as long as I looked the part of a doctor, had the right badge and acted confident.

I had followed Bella's progress through the emergency room, surgery and then her short stint in the ICU. They had moved her to a room in the early morning hours. I had one of my Seattle contacts create a badge for me under a former name and then I used my new access to listen in on the doctors and nurses that had treated her. I read Bella's charts and asked questions of the nurses responsible for monitoring her throughout the night.

I was able to put some details of the crash together based on gossip by the nurses and one of the EMT's. I had spent one of my clinical rotations in a Chicago trauma center. I was very familiar with the extent of Bella's injuries and the care she would require. It was bad. Very bad. While I had no great use for the girl, I wouldn't wish what had happened to Bella on anyone. Conventional medicine might help but there were no guarantees and it would be a painful recovery process.

I hadn't been able to get too close because I had to avoid Bella's guard dog until I had a plan. I wasn't sure what I was going to do yet. Until I did, I hadn't wanted to deal with his possible interference. I overheard his conversation with one of his pack mates. It sounded like Victoria attacked Bella after she caused Charlie to run off the road. Bella's parents died at the crash site and the wolves had disposed of the troublesome redhead. Good riddance to bad garbage. That removed at least one threat off of my radar. Now if only I could remove Bella once and for all.

I was surprised that I hadn't received a call from Alice or Edward. Surely, Alice would have seen something? I had no way to reach them, but if Alice had one of her visions, I knew they would have left for home. Could the dogs have interfered with Alice's visions? The wolves had found Bella and one of them had stayed with her the whole time. While Edward could read their minds, Alice didn't often get visions related to risks with the Quileute's. Emmett almost had a problem with one when he had an unexpected run in with one of their more volatile pack members. Emmett thought his name was Paul. It wasn't either of the ones that I had seen in the hospital. Alice had no warning that the confrontation was coming between Paul and Emmett. That led Carlisle to suspect that the Quileute's might have a defense mechanism that shielded them from Alice's gift.

I stood in my white jacket looking at charts at the nursing station as the doctor explained to Bella her injuries and options in her room down the hall. I watched as the doctor and the nurse left her room after some commotion. I walked down the hallway as the nurse told the duty nurse that they had to sedate Bella after the poor dear saw her face for the first time. I caught a whiff of the dog before I saw him. I ducked into the room, annoyed. I wanted to get this over with. Now I would have to keep playing hide and seek to avoid the dog as I bided my time for the sedative to wear off. Bella had to be awake when I offered the girl what she had always wanted.

XXXX

 **BPOV**

I didn't know what time it was when I woke up. My head felt fuzzy and my mouth was dry again. I tried to move and pain radiated throughout my body. The car accident. My parents. I was alone. My parents were both gone and I didn't know what would happen to me. My mother had always been a bit of a scatter brain but whenever I was sick or hurt I could always count on her. When I was sick she suddenly became strong and authoritative. Charlie had always been a rock. Now they were gone and I was alone.

No, that wasn't true. I had Edward. He loved me. He wanted to marry me. That thought buoyed me up until I remembered what I had seen when I looked in the mirror. He wouldn't love that. I couldn't expect him to love that. That wasn't the face he fell in love with. A sob escaped me which made it hard to breath for a moment. I was looking at multiple operations and even then I might not look normal let alone the way I did before the accident.

Edward. I needed Edward. He could change me!

Wait. The story. The story Carlisle had told me about the Phantom of the Opera. Even if Edward were here, I couldn't let him change me. What if that story was right and the venom didn't heal the wounds? I would end up a scarred freak for eternity. I couldn't do that to him. He didn't deserve to be tied to a monster. He deserved something better. Someone better.

" _You're not good for me, Bella,"_ rang through my head. All my insecurities came back to me. I hadn't thought I was good enough for him before, now I really wasn't. I was going to be a freak. The words he said to me when he broke up with me kept cycling through my mind as I stared at the wall. He would never want me like this.

Why did this happen? Just when Edward and I had finally agreed upon our future. My legs ached and I tightened up when I moved the wrong way and aggravated my shoulder. The movement must off caught the attention of the man in the chair.

"Bella, are you awake?"

I turned to the chair beside the bed and I saw a tired looking Sam sitting there.

"How are you doing?" The look of pity in his eyes was unbearable. I went to open my mouth but he held up his hand. "I'm sorry, the doctors said you aren't supposed to talk. I just wanted you to know that you aren't alone. Billy would be here but I told him to wait until you woke up. We're all so sorry about your parents, Bella. Charlie was a great friend to our people and he will be greatly missed."

Tears welled up in my eyes and I nodded.

He looked away. _Oh god, I make him so uncomfortable he has to look away to talk to me._ This is what my life is going to be like for now on. A child's screams came back to me. _"Monster, Mommy!"_ That is what I was now. A monster. An object of fear or pity.

"Bella, Billy wants you to know that you have a home with him when you get out of here. Charlie would have wanted him to be there for you and he wants you to know that you aren't alone."

I couldn't put that burden on Billy. He had his own problems and the last thing he needed was another person that would require a lot of care.

"The doctor said you might not remember the accident, but I want you to know that you're safe. Whatever it was that you saw in the woods is gone forever."

I didn't understand what Sam was saying. What was in the woods? I looked at him questioningly, but he didn't elaborate and I couldn't ask any questions. At least, the look of pity was gone from his eyes. It was replaced by a look of determination. Sam took my hand. I appreciated the touch. I felt so alone and the heat from his hand was a comfort. For the first time since I woke up I felt warmed throughout my whole body. I was grateful for the human contact.

Sam went quiet after that and I closed my eyes too overwhelmed to deal with anything else.

XXXX

An orderly transferred me to a waiting area outside of another room. He said he was taking me for another scan as he gently moved me through the hospital corridors. He hooked me up to the monitors in the new room and left me alone as he closed the door.

But I wasn't alone.

"Bella?"

Rosalie? What was Rosalie doing here? Had Alice seen the accident? Was Edward and his family here? I didn't want Rosalie, one of the most beautiful women I had ever known, to see me like this. I turned my head away in shame. I felt my heart rate increase at the same time that the heart monitor beeps rang out an increased tempo.

"Bella, I need you to calm down," Rosalie said in a soothing tone. "I want you to concentrate on your breathing. If your heart monitor keeps going off like that they are going to come in here and I don't want them to see me. I had to pay that orderly just to get you alone. We don't have a lot of time and I need to speak with you."

I concentrated on my breathing and the beeping slowed down.

"Good. That's better. Now Bella, look at me."

I shook my head.

"Bella, I need you to look at me so I know you understand what I'm going to tell you."

I reluctantly turned my head to look at Rosalie. She was her normal stunning self. I gave her a puzzled look when I saw that Rosalie was wearing a white lab coat and had a badge with her picture clipped to the jacket. She looked like one of the hospital employees.

"I was at the hospital when you were brought in."

How was that possible? Who could have called her? Did Alice see the accident?

She saw the questions in my eyes but she said, "I've looked at your charts and I know the extent of your injuries."

I lifted a hand toward my face.

"I know, Bella." Rosalie looked sad. "I also heard about Charlie. I'm sorry. He was a good man. I'm sorry about your Mom, as well. I only met her once but she seemed like a nice lady." Rosalie gave me a moment before continuing. "Do you understand why I'm here?"

I shook my head.

"I can't get a hold of Edward. So, I need you to decide if you want me to change you. You know I've never done it before, but I will _try_ if that is what you want."

Rosalie was offering to change her. I felt hopeful for a moment.

"It's a big decision and I wouldn't offer if your circumstances weren't so serious. I know about the damage to your facial bones, skin and underlying tissue. The venom should heal it as well as your broken bones."

I heard the 'should' and the way that Rosalie said it with some uncertainty. The Phantom of the Opera popped into my head again. I had seen what my face looked like under the bandages. The venom might heal it or it might not. It _might_ turn me into a gruesome freak. One that Edward would be tied to, not just for a lifetime, but for eternity. What had Rosalie said to her? _"Forever is a long time for regrets."_

"Do you want me to change you? If you do, I need to get you out of here as soon as possible."

I looked around and then pointed to my throat.

"I'm sorry," she said as she reached into the pocket of her lab coat and took out her cell phone. "You're not supposed to talk. Can you work the buttons of the phone?"

I nodded and she held the phone in front of me. It was awkward and slow, but I managed to type with my one good hand.

' _should?'_

Rosalie had no problems reading the screen upside down.

"Yes. I know Carlisle told you the story of Ambrosio. There is a chance that the venom might not heal your face. I don't know. We've always speculated that the Volturi made up the story. But it is a risk."

I knew I looked devastated at the answer but Rosalie refused to sugar coat her words.

' _edward want?'_

"Bella, this has to be what _you_ want. This is forever, so you have to be sure. There is a chance that the venom will heal all your wounds. But yes, there is a chance that there could be permanent scarring."

What little hope I had shrunk. I typed again.

' _need time'_

"Fair enough but we don't have a lot of time. I'll leave you to think about it. I'll be back but I'll need an answer by then. Do you understand?"

I closed my eyes but I nodded.

XXXX

RPOV

I saw the moment when Bella realized that the venom might not be the miracle she needed. I felt bad for the human but this was another case of why she should have never been let into our lives. If Edward had stayed away from her as I had warned him to, none of this would have happened.

I felt obligated to offer to change Bella but it had to be her decision. I wanted to give her the choice that I hadn't been given. I also wanted Bella to understand the consequences of her decision as well as everything she would be giving up.

I was sure what Bella would decide. I knew what I would have done in her place. As such, I had already thought of an alternative choice as I left her room. I knew the dog would be back soon and that would work well with what I needed to do before I spoke to Bella again. I had to do some hacking and then make some calls. I worked out of an empty conference room I commandeered with the assistance of one of the hospital admins. I demanded an empty office with a phone and the admin I approached didn't have the nerve to question me. You had to love the hospital hierarchy system. She pointed to a door and even offered to get me some coffee. I declined and sat down to contact one of the shadier lawyers I sometimes used. I had an idea but first I needed some a forged medical power of attorney and some other documents. I gave the attorney Renee's name and where she lived. I told him to track down her young husband. I explained what I wanted him to do and transferred enough cash to make sure he did it promptly.

Then I hacked into the hospital database to get a copy of Bella's records. Normally, Jasper handled this kind of thing but I knew enough to take care of it myself. I set up a dummy email account in the name I used when I practiced medicine in Chicago. I contacted a respected plastic surgeon I had worked with there. He was surprised to hear from me but happy I was still practicing. I asked him to look at some medical records and pictures I was sending over and asked him for some recommendations. I redacted Bella's name on the files and changed it to something generic.

An hour later my colleague sent me an email asking me to call him.

"I agree that the damage to her face is too extensive for anything they can do for her there. I looked at what you sent me and to be honest, there are only a handful of doctors in the world that could give her any real chance at a normal life. I hope she has means because they are exclusive and expensive," Dr. Stevens told me.

"Bob, could you put a list of their names together for me?"

He agreed and rang off.

I researched the names that Bob sent. Two, internationally, were doing some extraordinary experimental treatments that showed great promise. That made sense, since they were less constrained by the rules and regulations of the FDA. I contacted the lawyer again and told him what I wanted him to do and sent Bella's medical records and pictures to him. I told him to change the name on the records and not to tell me what he picked. I would use the case name Ambrosio in relation to future dealings with him on this matter. The lawyer did as I instructed because I was the client and I paid well. I had made him a very rich man over the years. I was tough but generous. He might be willing to work within grey areas but he was loyal and I knew it.

He confirmed that he had contacted Renee's husband. He told Phil Dwyer that he represented Charlie's estate and offered to help Mr. Dwyer make funeral arrangements as the closest next of kin to the family as he was unable to travel. The lawyer had walked through the funeral decisions with him and arrangements were already underway. Speed was of the essence if my plan was to succeed.

I had the lawyer contact the five doctors that Bob had recommended. Over the next few hours, the lawyer told me he was only able to reach two because of time differences. He planned to contact the other three when it was morning in South America and Europe. The two he had reached were interested enough to request a copy of Bella's records. The attorney handled all contact with the doctors and sent the requested files.

Hours later, the attorney told me what was needed to fund Bella's treatment. I still hadn't heard from Alice which further confirmed my suspicions that Sam's presence was blocking her abilities. I logged onto my personal Swiss bank account, one that I used for my personal pet charity projects, and arranged a transfer of funds. I made a second transfer to the attorney. This was going to take a lot of bribes.

I gave Bella another hour and slipped into her room as soon as her Quileute guard left again. The place reeked of wet dog. I ignored the discomfort and got straight to the point.

"Have you made your decision?"

I would keep my word. If Bella decided she wanted to be changed, I would change her. However, if she didn't then I had another choice to offer her. A plan that would help Bella, but more importantly, give me the chance to show Edward that there was a better alternative out there for him for his mate.

I looked at Bella expectantly. "Do you want me to change you?" I wasn't surprised when Bella shook her head. The vain part of me understood that an eternity looking like a scarred freak was worse than death. I knew what I would choose in Bella's place.

"Is it because you fear you might end up like Ambrosio?"

Bella nodded.

"The venom could work," I reminded her.

Bella held up her hand and then gestured. I realized she wanted my phone again. I held it for Bella again as Bella awkwardly pecked at the virtual keyboard.

' _no monstr for E'_

"Okay, I understand your fears. On the other hand, it might work."

' _2 risky'_

She wasn't finished typing.

' _love E 2 much'_

Then she pointed back emphatically to the first line.

' _no monstr for E_ '

I understood her fear probably more than most since I had been valued primarily for my looks most of my existence. I wouldn't want that for Emmett, either.

"Bella, I might be able to offer you another alternative. Something that could heal your face. Then you could decide if you wanted to be with Edward either as a human or to eventually be changed."

Bella looked confused.

"I've done some research and called some contacts. There are some doctors that might be able to help you. I was given the name of five doctors that are considered the best in the field of facial reconstruction in the world. They have dealt with car crash victims like yourself, burn victims and even soldiers that were wounded by IUDs or mortar attacks. I could arrange for them to look at your records and see if any of them would take your case." I didn't think it was necessary to tell her I had already sent her records to some.

She pecked on the phone.

' _no $'_

"Bella, don't worry about the money. We'll take care of everything. The important thing is to get you better."

She looked at me with big sad eyes and typed again.

' _no E if no wk'_

"Are you saying that you don't want Edward to see you until you know the surgeries worked?"

Bella looked sad but nodded. This was playing right into my plan.

' _no tie 2 mnstr for eternity'_

I had to give her credit. She obviously loved Edward enough to let him go for his own good. The two of them were born martyrs. It wasn't like they were married or mates. This only made me believe that I was right. I would give Bella what she wanted. It would be a long road to recovery, if that recovery was even possible. Hopefully, that would give both of them time to realize they were not right for each other.

"Bella, if Edward asks, I will have to tell him."

Bella shook her head.

'if wrk then you tell E to come 2 me'

"Bella, he will want to support you while you are going through this."

Again she shook her head and pointed to the text.

'no tie 2 mnstr for eternity'

Then she pointed to the other text again.

'if wrk then you tell E to come 2 me'

She couldn't have reacted more perfectly then if I fed her the lines. I played my part.

"Bella, you know that the only way that would work is if I don't know any of the details. I have an attorney that can make the arrangements. He would be your go between and handle all the money. He will be instructed to provide you with anything you need to get you through this. Then when you are better, you can contact me so I can send Edward to you." I paused for dramatic effect. "Bella, I won't tell Edward what I know but if he asks me directly, I will have to tell him. Do you agree?"

Bella nodded her head reluctantly.

"So, should I put this into motion?"

Bella nodded again.

XXX

SPOV

I walked into Bella's room and tensed. I had left for a cup of coffee. When I returned Bella wasn't in her bed but the room wasn't empty. I was off my game. I should have sensed her before I saw her. A night of no sleep and the hospital antiseptic smells must have messed with my senses. Now I caught the sweet lavender and rose smell that fought with smell of bleach and Pine Sol. Her scent would have been pleasant if it hadn't been so overwhelmingly strong and sweet to my sensitive senses.

"I'm Rosalie Cullen."

"I know who you are." She was beautiful but she looked like a too perfect wax museum figure to me; cold and lifeless.

She smirked. "Yes, I'm sure you do but I thought this might be more pleasant if we knew each other's names. I've met a few of your … older relatives, but we've never been formally introduced."

"I'm Sam. What do you want bloodsucker?"

She ignored the insult. "Well _Sam_ , I want you to forget that you saw me here."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because I can guarantee something that you want."

"What would that be?"

"Us gone. Forever."

I tensed. That was exactly what I wanted. I was bitter about the treaty my ancestors had made with these parasites. I hated that I couldn't hunt each one of them down, tear them apart and burn them. If not for their presence, I wouldn't have lost Leah. I wouldn't have hurt Emily.

As long as they were around, I had to worry about who would be the next to go through the change. I hated what their presence had unleashed on my people as well as Bella and her family. Now this blond vamp was promising that she could ensure they left Forks.

"I see that I have piqued your interest. If you let me handle the Bella Swan situation, I can guarantee that we will leave Forks and never come back."

What did that mean? I had no intention of letting her hurt Bella.

"How do you plan to _handle_ it?"

"First, tell me what happened."

I didn't want to tell her anything but I wanted to hear more of what she was offering.

"We were following that redheaded blood sucker that keeps coming back to our lands."

"Victoria," Rosalie muttered in disgust.

"So you know her? Of course you do," I didn't hide the contempt in my voice. She explained how the Cullens and Bella had first run into Victoria. I explained how we had come across, first the dreadlocked vampire, and then the redhead.

"You killed Laurent?"

"Yes. He kept coming on to our lands as if he was looking for something." I explained how we had cornered him in a clearing and then killed him. We thought that was the end but then Victoria had shown up on our lands. We had chased her a few times but never got close enough for her to see us. This time we had caught her sent but lost Victoria only to track her to the car crash. "The bitch was holding a bloodied and banged up Bella by the throat. We attacked her and managed to tear her apart and burn her pieces. We found Charlie and Bella's mother dead in the car. We called the EMT's and they medevacked her here. I guess you know how bad things are?"

"Yes."

"So what would you do for Bella? We won't agree to you changing her. You know the treaty."

"I think you'll see that what I have in mind will satisfy us both." Rosalie explained her plan.

I listened and then asked, "And Bella will be taken care of and safe?"

"I promise that I will make sure she gets the best medical care that money can buy to make her whole. I also promise that she will be safe from my kind. I will make sure she has enough money left over to get her started in a bright future. Most of all, I will make sure we never come near you again. Now that you have taken care of Victoria and Laurent, there won't be any rogue vampires trespassing on your land. If others of my kind do, you can handle them as you see fit."

I certainly liked the sound of that.

"So, are you in?"

I nodded my agreement, not sure if I had made a deal with an angel or a devil.

 **A/N –** Thanks for reading the story. I hope you will drop me a review or a pm if you like the story.


End file.
